Red vs Blue Season 15
by Monty Mason
Summary: With Tucker gone and the Blood Gulch crew left to take action on their new mission, they all ponder the new threat that is to come. In the far off reaches of space however, the threat is brewing stronger by the second. What will become of Locus and Tucker in a constant struggle of ideologies? - Not an adaption of the official season. Rated M for mature language and content. -
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello old readers and new comers alike. If you are a new reader and tuning in for the first time, consider reading my "Red vs. Blue Season 14" fanfic to help give you an idea of what is happening. This one is a direct continuation of the story I started with Season 14 and is meant to be the second one of the planned trilogy. This will also be the only author's note you see until the very end, UNLESS there is an issue that requires me to publicly address it via an author's note.**

 **I hope you enjoy this and also hopefully find some of my writing differences versus that of Miles to be pleasant in terms of our differing outlook on good versus evil (based on what we have gotten from Miles in the Chorus Trilogy).**

 **Disclaimer: Red vs. Blue is the intellectual property of Rooster Teeth. I only take credit for the story line and any new characters introduced, the main characters belong to Rooster Teeth as well as any other IP holder.**

 **For future consideration when Rooster Teeth releases the official season. This is not meant to be an adaption of it.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Prologue:**

Several vehicles occupied a freeway. The cars moved synchronously, all travelling in the same speed to get to their end destination. Behind the glass window of a building overlooking the freeway, a man studied the traffic from the highest floor. His mind was distant in his own thoughts, so much so that he did not even hear the door opening behind him.

"Sir," began the new entrant. "You call for me?"

The man turned around slowly to see the young lad standing before him. This young man was neatly dressed with no creases present in his black uniform, the cap on his head worn according to standards and a few medals displayed on his chest pocket as a sign of pride in his work. In a low pitch and calm voice, the young lad's boss spoke. "Our new guest has arrived. Please bring him to the interrogation room."

"Yes sir," the young employee left to execute his given task. The boss slowly made his way to the door and stopped to study his metal hands. Clenching them into fists, he could hear the mechanical sounds coming from the moving gears and electronics inside. He gently reached out for the button to open the door, and exited.

As he slowly made his way to the elevator, he soon found himself being pushed along from the behind by one of his colleagues. "You don't need to help me Justice."

"I beg to differ," she replied in a tomboyish tone. She was covered in a unique nano armor suit. Her helmet was retracted showing her scarred face, her emerald green eyes shining with clarity and short buzz cut black hair. The boss simply turned to look at the approaching elevator with a sigh. "Do as you please."

"Are you sure it was wise to leave him alive?" she asked helping the boss into the lift as the doors opened. The boss stared out the glass pane windows observing his own reflection with weary eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. I trust Locus' judgement."

"You put too much faith in him."

"It's not a matter of faith, but the trust we built on a solid foundation."

She remained quiet as they reached their departing floor. Few minutes of travel, they finally reached their destination. Inputting her sequence of security codes, she entered the room with the boss. He stopped near the microphone and she stood by the door. Both were shaded in darkness.

Just as the boss was about to test the microphone, the interrogation room's door opened and Tucker was brought inside. He was placed into the spotlight with Locus standing to the left. The boss considered Justice's words to him about Locus recently. _I hope your calculations were not wrong Locus_.

Pressing the microphone button, a loud static echoed through the interrogation room. "My apologies gentlemen, now everyone but Captain Tucker and Locus may leave."

The three employees left with only Locus and Tucker now in the room. "Captain Tucker, you may be wondering about your current predicament."

"No shit, it's not like anyone else would be thinking the same."

The boss remained quiet at the brash reply. From his understanding of Tucker, according to Locus, while Tucker belonged to the UNSC, he was not directly affiliated with them. He took a few moments to calmly breathe as a heavy sigh escaped him. He normalized his breathing and reached out for the microphone button. "All will become clear soon, let's talk."


	2. Admittance

**Red vs. Blue Season 15**

 **Chapter 1: Admittance**

"Wow, this place seriously got fucked up," Grif commented studying the ship wreckage as well as the many dead bodies. Sarge looked back at Red base and called Grif on the radio. "Grif, what are you doing slacking off at a time like this?"

"Come on Sarge, can't I get a break. I mean I was the one flying the ship after all."

"Yeah, flying it straight into the ground!"

"At least we are all still alive."

"Yes, we are all alive…sadly," Sarge noted with a contemplative sigh. _No matter what danger we are in, he somehow always manages to survive_.

Simmons searched the various ship wreckages and retrieved whatever parts he could with some help from Lopez and Sheila. "Alright Sheila, try lifting that big wing piece over there."

"Leave it to me!" she replied in her chirpy tone as she bent down and gently slid her arms under. Applying pressure through her various joints, she successfully lifted the wing piece. Simmons studied the weight on Sheila. "Are you alright?"

"Oh yes, please hurry and retrieve whatever supplies you need."

"Right," he rushed inside to see several crushed bodies as well as their weapons in ruin. Simmons did his best to hold some bile back. He bent down to pick up whatever useful parts he could find. "Alright, I got it!"

Donut walked around Red base and felt a painful sensation in his ever so happy heart. While the Blue base suffered some damage, thanks to the falling debris from their escape ship, the Red base suffered the most damage. Thankfully crew quarters as well as any lower levels were safe for the most part. However a huge hole formed on the roof due to one of their stray thrusters.

"Seems like a real number was done on the Red base," Doc commented studying the other side. Donut walked inside to see the main computer completely trashed. _At least Simmons will be kept busy for a while_. He sighed feeling his spirits down, Doc walked inside taking notice and planted a gentle hand on Donut's shoulder. "Don't worry Donut, things will work out somehow. We have always managed fine in the past after all."

"With Tucker missing, our bases damaged, and many of us tired…I don't know if we will be fine."

Doc understood where Donut came from. But he could not stand to see his always happy, even if a little simple minded friend be down in the dumps like this. "We will be. From what I hear, Carolina and Washington are already discussing the next step."

* * *

Caboose walked into Tucker's room to feel the disturbingly quiet atmosphere. He walked outside with Freckles hoping to clear his mind through a stroll. There he saw Washington limping around base and Carolina slowly approaching the grey armored freelancer in small strides. Carolina stopped a few steps behind Wash. "Should you really be walking?"

"I should ask the same of you," he rebutted studying the outer base damage. He ran his fingers along the dented walls. _This will take some serious repair work_. Carolina looked at the base and felt a sense of guilt loom over her head. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry for the fact that I wasn't good enough. I was the first to be taken out putting everyone at a disadvantage, and then I wasn't even able to help one bit after that."

"Well you are not the only guilty party here," Wash replied consoling her to some extent. But there was truth in his words, he to felt as though he was defeated and failed in being strong for the team. "But, all things considered we still survived."

"Heh, yeah I guess it's not a completely bad deal," Carolina replied. Wash moved to study the next set of damage, but just then a disk fell to the ground. Carolina walked over picking it up with some painful groans escaping her. He rushed over to help her up. "Don't push it Carolina."

Carolina held up the disk to Washington. "Here, it fell out from one of your pockets."

"From my pocket? I don't remember ever having any sort of data disk on me."

"Then who could it be from?" Carolina pondered handing Washington the disk. He stared at it for a few seconds with a hunch in his mind. "I guess we will find out soon enough. Meet me inside the base by the computer in a couple of minutes."

Washington walked inside and felt the silence to be disturbing. _I guess I got too used to Tucker's yapping all day long_. Wash smirked under his helmet recalling all the times Tucker would talk about chicks, and how the conversation would always end up in him admitting that he either got his ribs cracked, arms broken, kicked in the crotch or just beaten up before he could get any. _We will come for you one way or another buddy_.

Washington fiddled with the computer's power controls. The computer turned on, _at least that's one thing that still works, for now_. He inserted the data disk into the open slot and waited for the computer to finish reading the contents. Just as the disk was decrypted and the files were moved to local storage for faster reading, Carolina walked inside. She waved to her fellow ex-freelancer soldier, and he in response motioned for her to stand by his side.

"Gotten anything?" she asked turning to study the computer screen. He retrieved the disk and put it into a safe place. "We will find out."

Washington browsed through the data and discovered the original creator was Locus. "Just as I thought."

"But why would he create this disk for us?" Carolina inquired resting her head on the palm of her hand in confusion. Washington continued to browse through the various files he extracted. "It seems like there is a video file as well as several data files."

"Play the video file. We may get some clues on what to do next."

"Right," Wash nodded as he hovered over the video file and engaged it. Locus appeared on screen. From what Washington could tell, the soldier was inside his ship while recording this. Locus cleared his voice staring at the camera momentarily. "If this video file is being played, then I would presume that you have received the data disk Agent Washington. Or at least someone from the Blood Gulch inhabitants has received it. I hope things worked out well for you after what I imagine will be a monstrous battle for us all."

 _They worked out somehow, whether it worked out well or not is questionable_ , Wash pondered as Locus continued. "You should know that the raid on Blood Gulch canyon was calculated, and the person behind this was me."

"What?" Carolina asked with devastation in her voice. _Was I wrong to trust him even in combat then?!_

"I did what I had to do because I believe it is the right thing to be doing. I will no doubt tell you all that the group coming for Tucker is a rebel group fighting against the UNSC, that was not a lie. To some extent I'm affiliated with this rebel group. The reason why I took Tucker with me is because we need his sword. I don't wish to have him be killed, but ultimately once we reach our destination, that decision will no longer be mine to make alone."

"That bastard…," Carolina could feel her hands shaking as she gripped her gun tightly. Wash gently rested a hand on her shoulder to help her calm down. Locus shook his head. "You may think of me as a monster as you may have back on Chorus. You won't be wrong for thinking like this. But I have my reasons for doing this. The rebel group, whether you believe them to be right or wrong, good or evil is irrelevant as they to fight for a cause they believe in just like your group. What I say now will be of no consolation, but I want you all to know that as long as I'm here, Tucker will be safe."

 _Yeah right_ , Carolina could feel her anger reaching its threshold. It was on the brink of snapping like fragile twigs. Washington could feel the tensions rise in the room, he turned back to see the video continue. "In this data disk I have enclosed some very high level files. Amongst some of them you will also find the coordinates to where I took Tucker to. I look forward to our next meeting."

Carolina suddenly punched the wall next to her. _You better look forward to me snapping your neck in that meeting to then Locus_. Washington browsed through the files and calmly replied. "It looks like he wasn't lying about the high level data files."

"Aren't you one bit angry Wash?" Carolina questioned seeing this calm behavior on Wash to be an act of betrayal. Washington faced Carolina, staring one another eye to eye. He turned back to the controls. "If we let anger cloud our judgement, rescuing Tucker will become all the more difficult."

"That still doesn't answer my question!" she barked when he began to leave the room. Midway he stopped and looked out the base with his grip tightening on his pistol. "Believe me, I'm pissed. Because when I see Locus next, there will be no more holding back, no more understanding him, and no more chances for trust…there will only be blood."

* * *

Amongst the bodies, one of the armor pieces moved. An enemy soldier stirred awake with pain originating from bullet wounds in their legs. _Fuck dammit!_ They tried to pick themselves up only to freeze at the giant robot of death standing in front of him. From behind the robot, Caboose walked towards the soldier. The two stared at one another in silence that was quickly building up into awkwardness. Caboose took the initiative. "Hello."

"Um…hi?"

"How are you doing today?"

"I have bullet wounds in my legs, what do you think?"

"Oh it's one of those days eh? I hate those days," Caboose replied completely aloof. The enemy soldier could not understand the deal with this blue soldier. "What?!"

"Yeah, I mean we all hate those days now don't we?"

 _Is this guy an idiot?_ The enemy soldier wondered only to take quick notice of the rifle Caboose held in his hands. _Okay, if I can just somehow do this, I may be able to get out of here alive_. "Come closer would you? I need to tell you something really important."

"Is it secrets? I love secrets! I'm really good at keeping them," Caboose said excitedly as he rushed over to the soldier's side. Before Caboose could react, he was quickly disarmed and taken hostage. "Alright giant killer robot, here is the deal. You pick me up and take me to a safe place out of here, else the blue moron gets it!"

Alerted by the shouting voice, everyone came rushing out of the bases to see the showdown. The enemy soldier stared all around with several guns trained on him. _Well fuck me, that plan panned out well. What do I do now?!_ He pondered shoving the gun's barrel onto Caboose's helmet. "Not a step closer, no one makes a move! I will blow this moron away!"

"Go ahead and try it," Grif provoked alarming the enemy. _The hell, don't these guys care about what happens to him?_ He tightened his grip on Caboose's neck. "Don't shit with me man! I'm serious!"

"For crying out loud, just pull the damn trigger already. It would help move things along faster!" Simmons shouted tired of this drama. _They are all crazy. But maybe if I really do kill him, they may finally listen and even tell the killer robot to back off_. The enemy soldier nodded his head several times. "Okay, you asked for it!"

The enemy pulled on the trigger. _I hope you idiots learn your lesson_ , he thought only to be met with the surprising results. Out of the gun's barrel shot some confetti with a farting noise.

"Grif did it," Caboose mumbled. The soldier began to shake in his spot, _mommy I think I'm going to lose control of my bowels_. Grif walked up behind the soldier and pointed his gun against the soldier's head. "And that is why you don't fuck with us."

With a swift blow to the back of his head, Grif knocked the soldier out. Wash studies the reds dragging the enemy soldier back to Blue base to keep in their holding cells. _At least we can now have a second opinion on all that data_.


	3. Not so Noble

**Chapter 2: Not so Noble**

Tucker sat on his bed with his head in his hands. _Great, what the hell do I do now? On top of that, Locus betrayed us again. I should have seen that one coming._

From what Tucker had been able to learn, he was being held captive on a space colony known as 'Rise of Justice', and it was located very close to a resource mining planet that had long since been abandoned by the UNSC. The planet's name was no matter how much he asked, kept a mystery. Strangely though everytime he questioned about the planet, he was given distant and angry looks.

Tucker heard various footsteps approaching his cell door that was completely encased in white. Everything inside of this room was white. The window peeking inside of the room slid open. "Stand by the back wall with your hands up."

 _Here we go again_ , Tucker pondered facing the back wall with his hands up in the air. Three people came inside with a restraint wheel chair. The one leading the other two held Tucker's hands together and motioned towards the wheel chair. "You know the drill."

"Yeah, I know asshole."

"What was that? Do you want to get tased again?" the employee asked kicking Tucker in the back of his right knee. Falling to the ground, Tucker was forced into the wheelchair where he was restrained for his visit to the interrogation room. He was pushed along out of the room and into the glass elevator. From the lower most level, they made their way for one of the higher levels. As the elevator escaped the basement, Tucker could once again see the freeway of busy vehicles, all looking to either overtake one another or be that gentle stream in the continuous current.

No matter how many times Tucker saw this he was amazed at the design of the station. It was designed in such a way that a society could be created in here. A society unlike any he had seen from personal experience. But his perception was already tainted due to his unwelcoming treatment and kidnapping.

The elevator reached their intended floor. Everyone exited the elevator and approached the interrogation room. Inside it was again darkness with only one spotlight. Tucker was placed in the middle of it. Behind the glass overlooking the room were three individuals. Justice and Locus both guarded the door, where as the boss was eagerly looking forward to his next conversation with Tucker even if he knew the outcome would always be the same due to Tucker's "simplistic" mindset.

* * *

Reaching out for the microphone button, the boss looked at Tucker with clarity. "Hello Captain Tucker, I hope your first night with us was a pleasant one. I feel that I must apologize for the accommodations seeing as how you are quite a valuable guest. But at the same time you have not made your allegiance clear, and based on your armor, I would say it belongs more to the UNSC. Surely you must agree that we cannot allow you to roam freely."

"You sure do love to talk a lot don't you?" Tucker asked already fed up with the boss's chatter. His very gritty and gravelly voice pierced Tucker's ears and quickly lost, thus falling on deaf ears. The boss however felt different. "It is better than using my weapon as a solution for everything Captain."

Tucker looked down at his restraints mumbling. "If I ever get out of here-"

"But you won't. We have made sure that you will never escape until you give us what we want."

"That is?"

"Your allegiance, I don't care for your personal feelings towards us. But I do care about building an army."

"What are you talking about?"

"Locus already told you that we are a rebel group fighting against the UNSC. That was not wrong, but we do so because our reasons are justified. Again, I don't care for your personal feelings on this matter. All I need is one simple agreement from you. That you swear to serve us with undying loyalty and aid us with your alien sword."

"That's what you are after? What if I don't ever agree? Why should I help a psycho like you?!"

"Quick to judge now aren't we?" the boss mused behind the glass window. He let out a small chuckle.

"What so funny asshole?"

"I'm just taking amusement in the fact that sadly you are stuck in your ways, unable to see the world from different lenses."

"Spare me the bullshit talk."

"Tell me something Captain," the boss started as he looked back towards Locus with a small smile. _You should know the answer to this quite well old friend_. "Do you believe that we are the bad guys here and that the UNSC is innocent in this matter?"

"They are not the ones kidnapping others so no shit yes," Tucker replied trying to break free of the restraints. The boss in reply simply said. "And what would you still think if I told you they weren't as noble as you think they are?"

"What do you mean?"

"Every organization has had some bad blood in it, a few rotten apples that grow to infect the others," the boss replied studying his own metal hands. The memories flooded his mind and the pain in his damaged body came rushing back. "…every organization is corrupt to a certain degree. It's just that some organizations act on that corruption to ruin the lives of others."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!"

"Captain, you know we will just keep on doing this until either you agree to join us, or we simply choose to execute you and take the sword by force."

 _So you want to dodge my questions now do you?_ Tucker thought gritting his teeth. He balled his hands into fists and shook his head. "It's not going to be that easy asshole!"

"Truly a shame," the boss replied calling back the employees. The boss turned around and exited the room with his two allies behind him. Locus kept his head low, to which the boss was quite concerned about. "Is something troubling you Locus?"

"Not really."

"Then please look alive, you are just like Justice an individual who greatly boosts morale amongst the colony residents. We are close, we have two swords in total right now, and if Captain Tucker agrees then we will have three in our hands. With that many we can finally execute our plan on a fast track."

"Right…"

* * *

Tucker was once again transported back to his quarters and left alone in peace. He walked around in the room trying to find any way of breaking the wall, opening a compartment to crawl out of or maybe a lock he could try and pick with Sigma's help. _That's right, Sigma!_ He thought just as the flaming fragment appeared. "Help me out here Sigma."

"Unfortunately I don't have the necessary data to make a sound judgement at this time Captain Tucker."

"Come on, you suck!"

"However if you allow me to transfer to the various cameras then I could get a better understanding and help draw a floor plan."

"Okay, just do it."

"I should let you know that I will not be able to travel great distances without you following. So while you are stuck in here, my mobility is very limited."

"That's just great. Well do what you can, it's better than nothing," Tucker replied going to lie down on his bed. Right now all he could do is patiently wait for the proper time and let Sigma do his thing. All he could do is sleep away for now, because he will need all the energy he can muster for when an escape opportunity presents itself.


	4. High Level Data

**Chapter 3: High Level Data**

"Why don't we try pressing this button?!" Caboose questioned by the computer in his infinite curiosity like that of a two year old. Washington as always did his best to keep the young soldier from causing any trouble. "Caboose, don't touch that."

But like always he touched it anyways. "Um, Agent Washington, the screen went black."

"What did you do?!"

"Grif did it."

"Dude, you cannot blame your shit on me!" Grif shouted from across the canyon. Washington was impressed at Grif's hearing as he called the orange soldier over the radio. "How did you even hear that?"

"I have ears of decentanium."

"Right, Caboose step away from the computer," Wash said with a stern voice. With a small whimper Caboose stepped backwards, Washington studied the state of the machine and determined it was simply shut off. _Hopefully my work was saved_. He turned it back on and suggested that Caboose goes out to help Carolina.

* * *

Inside Red base, Simmons was busy fixing the base computer. Sarge walked in to study the progress. "How's it going in here Simmons?"

"Considering how trashed our computer was, I would say pretty good."

Sarge studied the various components lying all over the floor in a mess. "Do you need any help in here? I could get Grif to finally do some useful work."

"Please no!"

"How about Donut?"

"He would probably just stick his thumb in something thinking that it's a rabbit sir, he may end up short circuiting the components that way. I don't see how that would be productive."

"Good point, well I guess I will leave you to it then Simmons."

"Yes sir!"

Sarge walked outside to see a very disgruntled Lopez fixing their broken Warthog. "How goes it here Senor Lopez?"

"[Go away, I don't want to see your face right now. Looking at it only reminds me of all the times you have broken the vehicles I have worked hard on. It reminds me of the times you trashed on my works of art.]"

"Yes it is a nice day out today isn't it?"

Lopez stared at Sarge for a few minutes before shaking his head in fatigue, too tired to even dedicate any processor power to argue any more. "[Stupid old man.]"

"Thank you for noticing, I have been busy working out lately."

Donut ran up from behind the two in tears, manly girly tears. "Sarge, our garden is ruined!"

The red leader stared at their garden patch, the soil and vegetables were in tatters thanks to the debris. "Was it ruined by an explosion?"

"I don't think so, it was probably just the debris."

"Hmm, who would ruin a garden by falling debris? I mean at least make it an explosion!"

"That's not really the point," Donut steered the conversation back on track only to hear an ambiguous grunt from Sarge as he moved on. Doc came by Red base looking for Sarge. "Hey Sarge, how's your shoulder doing?"

"Much better than yesterday thanks to you Doc. By the way, what happened to the guy we captured?"

"I just finished operating on him," Doc replied earning a silent and a questionable look from under Sarge's helmet. "What?"

"You didn't leave him in pieces on the table now did you?"

"Please Sarge, I may be crazy but I'm not as crazy as Dr. Grey."

"Point noted," Sarge replied walking away. Doc watched the garden and couldn't help but just walk away. "Nope, not dealing with that, I'm out!"

* * *

Across the canyon Caboose ran a few laps with Carolina. To her surprise when Caboose asked to help her, she thought to use him as a training dummy, but he was giving her a run for her money. _Gotta say that I'm impressed Caboose_ , she pondered just as he left her in the dust by several miles. The surprising thing was that according to Caboose, this was his 'easy' mode.

Inside of Blue base, Washington studied the disk data going from file to file. Most of the data he had come across thus far was nothing more than plans to abduct Tucker. _He certainly did think things through. I guess he wasn't lying when he said his plans are calculated_ , Washington browsed to the next file. Before he went onto another, his whole body froze at what he could tell were coordinates. _Where does this lead do?_ Washington brought up a galaxy map and inputted the coordinates. According to the map, the location was located near the edge of the galaxy just like Chorus.

The coordinates pinpointed to a void. _There is nothing there, or is there?_ Washington pondered recalling that in Locus' plans, _Tucker was to be transferred to a space colony station. Maybe that base is just off the grid perhaps_. Washington saved the map data and moved onto the next file. His surprise only grew in quantity with every file he saw after that. _This data, why would he encase it in here? This is some very valuable stuff_. Washington called everyone up on the radio and had them gathered in Blue base.

"I gathered you all here because I think you should see what is on the data disk Locus provided us with," Wash said first playing the video. Then he began to browse through the files leaving everyone either in shock, surprise, disgust or simply dumb-founded. The contents regarding their enemy were the most revealing things stored in the disk. Simmons looked around the room and knew they all felt the same. "Can we even trust this data? I mean it is from Locus."

"We have a second source who we intend to run this by," Wash replied as he turned to Carolina. She understood the signal. "I guess I will put on my meanest face."

"Okay, I'm already scared," Caboose commented looking away. Grif shook his head at the blue soldier. "Caboose, you are always scared of her."

"Ah that's not true, I'm only scared of her most of the time."

"I feel so much better hearing that, thank you," Carolina sarcastically replied. She exited to the lower levels leaving the others to ponder their next task. Simmons happily went back to fixing the Red base computer, and he already had several upgrades in mind thanks to the equipment he salvaged from the ships. Grif was the second one to leave. "I have a date with some S'mores."

Donut left to help Lopez with the Warthog and Sarge went about his daily tasks. Doc stayed behind to study Wash's leg and ensure it was healing nicely. Caboose looked at the dispersing crowd. "So it's a break? Okay, see you guys later!"

* * *

Carolina walked down below to the holding cell they kept the enemy soldier in. She stopped to see the enemy lying flat on his belly staring at the wall. She unlocked the door getting his attention. He picked himself up slowly scooting into the corner. She stopped a few steps away from him, and took notice of the shivering body when she cracked her knuckles. "We have a few questions for you. If you don't answer them, then I will be firmly planting my fist in your face. Answer them and you will be fine. Understood?"

"Yes, scary lady…"

 _Scary lady? Off to a good start I see_ , Carolina pondered feeling a nerve pop up on her forehead. She held out a digital pad displaying the coordinates given to them by Locus. "Where do these coordinates go to?"

The enemy soldier stopped shivering in his spot. His whole body was still. _Looks like these maybe the real deal_ , Carolina pondered. The soldier raised his finger at the data. "Where did you get that?"

Carolina applied pressure to one of his knees. "Answer my question or else."

"T-They lead to a space station."

"Name of the station?"

"Ri-Ri-Rise of Justice."

"Good, I'm guessing that the people aboard this station are part of the rebel group."

The enemy soldier nodded his head as she strengthened her pressure on his knee. "Yes, but not all of them."

"Meaning?"

"Some are just tr-trying to live a normal life."

"So if I understand this right, your rebel group has decided to involve innocent people in your conflicts?"

"Th-they were already involved from the very start."

 _That would confirm Locus' data then. But since Locus is working for these guys, can his words be trusted?_ She pondered easing off and locking the door behind her. "I will be back later."

"Yeah," the soldier said in a demeaning tone. "I bet you will."

"What was that?"

"Nothing miss scary lady…"

* * *

Carolina walked up to where Wash was busy scouting through the other data. He noticed her climbing up the stairs. "Get anything out of him?"

"The information from the prisoner matches the one we got from Locus," Carolina replied and Washington turned to look at the monitor contemplatively. "But, can we really trust their words?"

"What do you mean?" Wash asked. She looked down at the ground in deep thought. "I mean that they both are the enemy. What if it is just a means to manipulate us?"

"We don't have any other leads at this point."

"I know, but it still feels wrong."

"Maybe so, but I doubt our prisoner would want to lie if he values his life, or at least his sanity from Caboose."

Carolina let out a small laughter of amusement. Washington looked back at the data as Carolina walked to his side. "How is your leg?"

"It's better than yesterday. What about you?"

"Slowly getting better," she replied. Wash then suggested as he studied a data file. "It would probably heal quicker if you didn't exert yourself through training right now."

"What can I say? Training waits for no one."

Washington looked to his right to see the contact number for the UNSC ship they originally arrived back on into Blood Gulch. He walked over and activated the galaxy wide broadcast features on the nearby transmitter. Carolina stared at him curiously with her head tilted. "What are you doing?"

"Making an important call. Tell the others to pack up. We will be leaving soon for these coordinates."


	5. Old War Friends

**Chapter 4: Old War Friends**

"You realize these sessions will continue until a decision is made don't you Captain Tucker? The result depends entirely on you, however our patience has its limits," the boss explained with fatigue in his voice observing the restrained fighter.

Tucker squirmed in his seat only to be reminded that escape was impossible for him right now. The boss sighed behind the microphone as he leaned back into his chair. In the room confining Tucker, he could hear the metal clangs from the boss's fingers tapping against the metal table.

"Is Locus there?" Tucker asked trying to pierce the darkness with his eyes. The reserved soldier's head perked up and the boss stared behind him. He motioned for Locus to come up to the microphone. "Perhaps he will talk to you."

"I'm here."

"Why would you even help these guys? And what happened to making things right?!"

Locus remained silent. He reached out for the microphone button with some hesitation. "That is none of your concern."

"I think it is since you fucking kidnapped me!"

"Our proposition is not difficult to comprehend Captain Tucker," Locus began in a stoic tone. "Join us, or risk your life."

"Why are you even working for this whack job?!"

Locus stood back with an agitated grunt. The boss smirked as he watched Locus go back to his original position. "Do you really dislike answering such questions?"

"They don't concern the mission."

"I suppose they don't," the boss conceded turning back to face Tucker. "Captain Tucker, if you must know then I can indulge that curiosity. I suppose it would be better than us constantly running up against a brick wall with the usual session inquiries."

Tucker remained quiet and looked away. The boss found some amusement in this, _what a strange person. You ask for something to be explained, and when it is offered on a silver platter, you seem to ignore that offer_. The boss closed his eyes, and the little movements in his face pained him. He painted a clear picture of the past and collected the proper words to preach. "Locus and I have known one another for a long time, ever since the Great War against the aliens."

This peaked Tucker's curiosity and he turned to stare back up to the room behind the window. The boss took notice, _how easily you are swayed_. "Yes, he and I fought several battles together. We belonged to the same unit. We had seen several battles, survived many harsh conditions and forged a strong bond."

 _A bond_ , Locus pondered. The boss ignored the surprised gasps from Tucker, and continued with his explanations. "We have both been at the heart of hell, and stood in the middle of the worst sentient life has to offer. War has ways to change a person. It is often said that our upbringing defines us, but the environment we strive to survive in also molds us. We were both molded by war. Due to our circumstances, we were both forced to change, harden ourselves to survive and then without any consideration or aid from others, we were expected to adapt back to human society."

Tucker tilted his head at the heavy talk that was being laid on him. _This dude has some issues_ , Tucker pondered as the boss continued. "Unfortunately, some of us could not adapt to what many consider to be a _normal_ society. We were left to slowly wither away with time, labelled to be mentally unstable war survivors. Can you imagine the ridicule one can experience under such a label even if it is intended to be one of sympathy?"

The boss tightened his metal hands into fists. "Can you imagine the pain of that rejection Captain Tucker?"

Locus studied his old friend with a heavy feeling in his chest. His mind began to wander back into that hell he had survived and unfortunately fell victim to Felix. _War has changed us both. It has torn us and at the same time gave us purpose_. The boss closed his eyes as he calmly breathed in and out. "You can't even begin to comprehend it, can you? I wouldn't blame you. It's not something an outsider such as you would understand in its entirety."

"And you think that because you are messed up by war, that you can do whatever you want?" Tucker dared to ask. The boss contemplated the question to carefully construct a reply. "As I have said before, our actions are justified. We have our reasons for fighting. You have your reasons for believing what you want to, and thus you choose to fight for that belief. We are all fighting for what we believe in."

"Whatever," Tucker replied again looking away. _It seems nothing else will come of our talk today_ , the boss thought calling in the employees to take Tucker back to his cell. The boss alongside his two bodyguards exited to the main hall. He kept a keen eye on Locus who seemed deep in thought. "Thinking about the things we discussed today?"

"To some extent, yes I am."

"Worry not too much about the past my friend, for great things are to come. We will soon hold more power to bring down a corrupt organization."

Locus watched Justice and the boss enter the elevator. As the doors closed Locus was left wondering, _but what type of future will these great things build? Will this help right the wrongs of my past?_

* * *

Inside his cell, Tucker lay on the bed. He had his arms crossed across his chest contemplatively. "Hey Sigma, get out here."

"How may I be of assistance Captain Tucker?" Sigma inquired as he burst into flames besides Tucker. The soldier sat up looking towards the door, and he could hear no sounds outside. _Good_. "What's the progress on that map?"

"Here is the update," Sigma replied drawing a holographic map for his operator to see. Tucker was satisfied to see the progress. They already had several levels mapped out thanks to the transfers the employees would do to take him to the interrogation room. But a lot of the building was still uncharted territory. "Can't you do something to get more data Sigma?"

"As I have stated before, I as an inferior fragment have more limits than the fragments before me. Unfortunately this is the best I can do. If we had the other fragments here, then with their aid I could have had a full map by now."

"But we make do with what we have," Tucker replied crossing his arms. Sigma looked towards the door. Tucker quickly became alert when he noticed Sigma's gaze. "Something up?"

"If you get me close to the door and stay there, I may be able to transfer to the outside camera. I could travel from camera to camera for a short distance to further map out the undocumented areas."

"Okay, sounds like a plan," Tucker replied briskly walking to the door. Sigma transferred his consciousness from Tucker's storage unit to the camera outside and began storing his observations to whatever memory he could dedicate to the task.

* * *

Locus entered the boss's office and found his friend staring out the windows. "Thank you for coming Locus."

"What did you want to see me for?"

"I have a small task that I was hoping to entrust you with. Our other technicians are currently busy with planning the extension of our space colony. It is a massive project requiring as many experienced hands on board as possible. This is where you come in," the boss said, and before he could finish Locus had already gotten a grasp on where this was leading to. "You want me to take care of the colony's maintenance?"

"Just the exterior maintenance duty, I only ask because I know you are well trained in these tasks. I also would like someone I trust on this task. After all, this colony is so to speak our ark."

"What about your home planet?"

"That world no longer holds any personal value, at least not to me. If I choose to tie myself to it, then I may as well choose to condemn our people to damnation."

"Alright, I will need a shuttle," Locus replied seeing the pain behind the boss's eyes. The boss nodded and pressed a button on his colony wide control panel. "Go down to dock 8C, one of the workers there will provide you with all the necessary tools."

"Understood."

"Thank you my friend," the boss replied before turning back to observe the colony again. Locus left the man in his own thoughts and travelled down to the dock. Getting the equipment as well as the green light, he quickly launched into space. Driving by the colony exterior, he studied for any abnormalities. _War…it has torn us just like he said. Had I never been a part of the war, what would I be doing today? Working some low paying job where I would wonder if I will scrape by for the month? Or go and earn myself a decent job with worrying about what others would have to worry about who choose to hold a decent paying job, and perhaps deal with everyday trivialities involved with in trying to be normal like everyone else_.

He followed the space station's exterior and curved to the left, and he crossed the bridge like hallways connecting one huge tower of the space station colony to another. _If I hadn't met Felix, Chorus would have never happened for me. If I had never been in the war, then I wouldn't be the broken mess I am today. If I had never fought, then he and I would have never met. War is a concept that is given meaning by the different sides of the conflict. I never once thought we were bad in any way, but we had done unspeakable things both to the alien race and our own_.

Locus stopped the ship and opened the hatch. He exited to study a slightly dented surface. Planting a beacon on it, he retreated to his shuttle. Ensuring the beacon was active, he continued onwards. _Bonds, what I became because of war tore my normal life apart. But war also gave me allies and enemies alike. Bonds which were created by both to help me get to the point I'm at right now, I suppose that is irreplaceable. Had I never been a part of the war, I would not be here right now helping them_.

Locus then considered his own ideas and a recent shift in his thoughts. He felt that he questioned the reality around him more and more lately. But he always tried to tell himself one thing, and that was that he was trying to do something good for others. But now, even that was questioned, _I'm doing good aren't I?_


	6. Memory is the Key

**Chapter 5: Memory is the Key**

Carolina sat in the mess hall with her head lying gently against the table. Washington walked in for his lunch break, and gathering his tray of food he sat opposite to her. "Is everything alright?"

"Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Yeah, I just seem to have this killer headache."

"Doc can always take a look at it if you want Carolina," Wash suggested piercing the seal on his food tray. He removed his helmet and tasted the mashed potatoes. Right now, to him any type of food tasted great considering all that they have survived so far. Suddenly Delta pixilated besides Carolina and stared up at her with curiosity. "Agent Carolina, what type of headache would you say this is?"

"Um…a normal headache? I didn't realize that headaches came in different varieties."

"It could be a normal headache, but it could also be one caused by the Epsilon fragment."

"Ah yeah I hate those headaches, it's like someone is putting a screwdriver through your head," Caboose replied walking into the mess hall. Wash face palmed thinking, _there goes my peaceful lunch_. He however quickly wiped the thought when he saw Carolina's face lighten up a little. _I guess she is getting more personable with him than I thought_. Carolina grasped her forehead and winced in pain as it felt it was about to burst wide open.

Caboose sat down by the two soldiers looking from one to another. "So, what are we talking about?"

"Agent Carolina," Delta started getting her attention. "It could very well be a sign of Epsilon trying to remember."

"Remember what?"

"Memory is the key," Caboose preached and Delta agreed. "Correct, for the Epsilon fragment, memory is the key. Epsilon could very well be trying to sift through the memories in the form of recordings left behind by Epsilon."

"Church?" Carolina questioned nearly standing up in surprise. Her tone was one of hope. _Does this mean that Church could still be alive?_

"Not exactly," Delta replied quickly shooting down those hopes. "Presently the Epsilon fragment remains without identity. But it also stores several of the recordings left to help it find its identity."

"I thought those recordings were for us," Wash said in a questionable tone. Delta shook his head displaying a few holographic projections. "If you observe this diagram here, it is the data structure of which our databases are configured regarding the messages left behind by Epsilon. Most of them were assigned to the new Epsilon fragment to study. We contain little to no recordings as Epsilon believed that he had made his feelings clear to you all through his final words."

The three let their heads fall into a moment of silence for Church. Carolina was the first to look up and think about the new Epsilon fragment's shapeless look. "So you are telling me that these recordings could be there to help him make sense of himself?"

"That is one way of putting it, but yes."

Inside of Carolina's storage unit, Epsilon's shapeless body studied the various data streams. Coming across a message titled "Message-001", it engaged it to play.

* * *

Now playing Message-001:

Uh…Hey new me, if you are listening to this then that means you probably have unlocked the other messages as well. Man this is so awkward, it's almost like talking to someone from the afterlife. But here goes.

Me kind of being like the father to the new fragments, I imagine you will have a lot of questions for me. One of them probably being that 'why the hell am I so fat?' eheh heh, bad joke? ...Bad joke. The reason why you are shapeless is because at one point I was the same. The Epsilon unit represents memory, and through memories is where you find your form.

For me I originally had some help from Caboose, turned out quite interesting I would say. Maybe the same thing may happen again, just remember to not trust everything he says, he isn't the most reliable source.

But I also want you to remember something important, memories help describe who we are, but our experiences are what help make us unique. I don't want you to get lost in these recordings to help describe the type of fragment you may be.

Sure you might turn out like me, but I want you to know that you should rely more on the experiences you will have with the crew. I mean who knows, you may come across some crazier adventures than I ever had. You could document it then for other fragments or other people. Heck, you may go on the craziest adventure the crew will have ever gone on. Kind of sad to think that I wouldn't be a part of it, but I hope you can be.

Find your identity, and don't rely too much on my recordings to give you your unique outlook on the world. Build that through your experiences, and remember to be nice to the guys, they are sometimes a special case, especially Caboose.

Recording End.

* * *

In Red base, the reds stood around the newly repaired base computer. Simmons stared proudly onto his creation that brought a tear to his eye. _My best work yet_ , he pondered when he powered it up. The neon lights around the screen monitor and keyboard panels lit up. Sarge looked at the product questionably. "Why is it running this fancy OS?"

"It's Windows 10 sir."

"Who uses Windows 10? Windows 7 for the win bitches," Grif replied disgusted with the OS design. Sarge on that note however took the moment to mention. "Speaking of which, weren't we running that Linux OS thingy that command gave us before?"

"Yes, but apparently that was too much for Donut to understand sir. He always ended up executing the command that deleted the OS thinking his wish would come true by doing that."

"Not to be picky but the neon lights look all wrong," Donut said studying the tube lighting inch for inch. Simmons shook his head at the pink soldier. "Donut, just because you are in-charge of base color restorations, it doesn't mean you can do that to the computer as well."

Lopez took one look at the computer and walked outside thinking, _I can't wait to see how they screw with their computer again, unless the OS screws them over first_. Just as Simmons entered the user profile to show the others around, a loud thunder went off in the sky.

"What in blazes is going on out here?!" Sarge asked running outside. The rest of the gang followed to see a huge UNSC transport ship hovering over the canyon. A small Pelican launched from the ship, and Simmons let out an audible sob that he couldn't showcase his computer. Grif let out a cheer that he didn't have to sit through the Boy Scout level of presentation.

* * *

The blues came rushing out alongside Doc. "What's going on?"

"It's our ride, they are here," Wash replied looking from Doc to the landing Pelican. Grif readied his gun with action in mind. _Finally we get to do something useful around here_. As the Pelican doors opened, Grif's face dropped beneath his helmet. "Oh no…"

"Woo hoo! Finally home, now I can start throwing those rave parties again!" Sis shouted exiting the ship. She became even more ecstatic at seeing her brother. "Big bro!"

Grif's head dropped low with a sigh. _Someone please kill me_. He looked up at his younger sibling and did his best to ignore the disappointment in his tone. "What happened to your transfer?"

"They said something about me using their base for every night parties was against regulation, so command kind of booted me back here."

"You didn't embarrass the family name did you?!"

"Oh I'm sure she embarrassed more than that," Captain Muffins replied stepping out of the Pelican. "She is quite gullible and very flexible when it comes to doing the _splits_."

Beneath his helmet, Grif could feel hot air rising from his puffy skin. "God dammit! That's it, you are grounded!"

"You are not my dad!" Sis shouted in retaliation. "If you will excuse me, I have a Red base to go and egg now."

"I hate my life," Grif mumbled trying to find the nearest rock to smash his head against. Washington walked towards the captain with their prisoner in arm. "You got the full message Captain?"

"Yes, and call me Muffins, Agent Washington."

"I refuse to call you something as ridiculous as that," Wash replied handing the prisoner off to one of the Pelican operators. The operator tied the prisoner to one of the chairs through two handcuffs and waited in the cockpit. Simmons looked back at Sis who was preparing to throw an egg. "What should we do about her?"

"Take her I suppose?" Carolina replied, although something told her that she may regret the decision in the long run. Grif rushed up right in her face. "No! You listen to me and you listen good! You maybe a scary freelancer lady who can probably beat the living shit out of me, but no way am I letting you bring her onboard the ship with us!"

"Too late," Caboose replied pointing to Donut and Sis who already seemed to be sharing nail polish tips aboard the Pelican. Grif bit his lips with his blood pressure ready to blow. "Fine, I'm not going anywhere."

Sarge took one look at Grif and turned to his robotic creation. "Lopez."

"[Fine, whatever]," Lopez replied as he picked up Grif from the back. Grif struggled against the robot's tight grip. "Hey no fair, let me go!

Simmons smirked under his helmet. _At least I'm not the only one suffering here today_. "Deal with it wimp."

Captain Muffins looked at the newly acquired prisoner and cleared his throat turning to Wash. "The prisoner has been interrogated?"

"We only asked what we needed to at the time. I'm sure you can get more out of him though."

"Very well! I the brilliant Herr Captain Muffins shall aid you in this quest! You, the blue man known as Caboose shall help me!"

"Yes Herr Officer! How will we do this? What are the rules of this game?" Caboose inquired intrigued at the German captain's enthusiasm. The Captain took one look at Caboose and thought, _at least his crazy talk has not gone away. Maybe this will be easier than I thought_. "We play good cop bad cop. You are the good cop, I'm the bad cop. You offer him a glass of water and I cap him in the knee. Works like a charm, every friggin' time!"

The Captain turned to face the Pelican and pointed at it creating a much exaggerated pose. "And a way we go on the quest to save humanity, make new friends, discover things about ourselves only to forget it all at the end."

Everyone looked at the deranged captain with Grif taking the initiative. "Yeah the ship is totally boned isn't it?"

"For what it's worth, he did get us here in one piece," said Wash in the captain's defense. They all boarded the Pelican and flew up to the transport ship. They all looked back one last time at the canyon wishing Sheila all the best. They all looked up at the sky and held hope for Tucker in their fight.


	7. Escape Attempt

**Chapter 6: Escape Attempt**

A shuttle docked at one of the open spots inside Rise of Justice space station colony. The inhabitants exited the ship leaving the cleanup crew to handle the rest. Justice alongside others in similar looking armor walked into the cleansing room. Justice ensured the sword was safely attached to her right leg. Once the process finished, she quickly beamed for the transport to go to the building the boss was in.

Her crewmates decided to stay behind understanding that other tasks required their attention. She took a free vehicle to the building, and with growing impatience she began to overtake several other cars along the way. The news she carried was an important and a happy one. Taking the turn into the building's parking lot, she departed and headed for the nearest elevator that would take her to the top.

The door opened behind him and he saw Justice in the reflection. Her composure told him much. _I thought you would be back by now_. He slowly turned to face her as she walked forward towards his desk.

She presented a tablet with a detailed report and he reached out to study it. Clearing her throat, she presented the quicker points of the report vocally. "The alien structure which once seemed impassable was finally decoded and seemed enterable. The main object required as we had theorized was the sword, but activating it from a specific terminal was the key."

"What did the tower reveal?"

"Tower-D, when we activated it, it seemed to have the ability to teleport anyone galaxy wide."

"How do you know?" the boss asked browsing over the tablet report at the same time. Justice looked to her side in slight shame. "W- We forced one of our own through the teleportation stage like structure. He was outfitted with one of our best radio units, it has the highest range in communication. We tried to communicate with him for a good three hours, but we received nothing but static. He may very well have died upon going through the portal."

"That's quite a jump to a conclusion you are making there are you not?"

"I took our best scientists with us, I doubt that would count as a hasty conclusion."

"I suppose," the boss replied putting down the report. He could see some hesitation in Justice's eyes. "What concerns you?"

"That person we pushed through. He never wanted to go, he was opposed to the idea, and against his will we restrained him and threw him in the portal. I- It just seems wrong and…cruel. Doesn't this make us the same as the UNSC for what they did to us?"

"On the surface perhaps, but we did this with the intention of fighting back the UNSC for their crimes. What happened with that individual is unfortunate, but sacrifices are sometimes necessary for progress," the boss explained as clearly as he could.

Justice could tell that he believed in the words he spoke. Their actions were cruel, but their intentions were not as she understood it. But there was still doubt in her eyes. He turned to stare out the window pointing to the magnificent city. "Look at all this, this progress and recovery we have all made. None of this would have been possible if none of you chose to believe in me. Have I steered you wrong so far?"

"No…"

"Then please, trust me?"

"I- I'm sorry for doubting you like this."

"I don't mind Justice. I would prefer that you are honest with me," the boss replied in a soft tone. His face however quickly hardened into business mode. "Now regarding this tower, it would be best if you send those scientists back down there again to study it. I will need you to stay here, and if they require the sword you will be free to go. This tower can be very useful for strategic placements against the enemy once we have configured the proper variables in our favor. We will also need to ensure that we dedicate a few resources to developing far better communication equipment."

"I will relay the message to our teams."

"Thank you," the boss replied with a smile. She looked back and found a sense of enlightenment in her heart after being more honest about her feelings. She smiled back making a quick remark. "You ever thought about getting out of the office sometimes? I'm sure if you run your smooth lines on a few girls out there, they will be all over you."

"I doubt anyone would want to be with a cripple," he replied with a bleak tone. Justice's smile withered, but she knew not to leave on that sour note. "Probably not the shallow ones, but they are out there."

* * *

Locus looked at his helmet. He sat motionless on his bed with his head sinking deep in thought. He raised his two hands and flexed the fingers into fists. _These hands of mine have been responsible for murder, both under the pretense of the Great War and out of war. Both my face and mind were forever scarred by the war. Did my place not lie on the battlefield? No. Did my place not lie back to the place I once called home then? No_.

His head fell at the memories. Locus punched the bed in anger. _No matter how much I try to forget, it always clearly paints itself back into my thoughts_. He grits his teeth, and finds his whole body shaking with memories…

Several years ago, Locus was a different person before the war. He was more compassionate, curious, and willing to question the things that stood against his moral values. But how the war remolded him not only surprised him but also those closest to him. He pondered each of their faces as he sat on the train back to his home town. The people that came out to meet him seemed genuinely happy to see him breathing and to have survived the war.

There was much discrimination against the aliens still as that was what the war was fought on. Use the media to induce discrimination and through discrimination came hate which fueled the fight for the soldiers. Media propaganda tactics which had been used numerous times throughout human history, it doesn't seem like people learn, or they simply never completely understand.

Maybe this was the case with Locus' closest family and allies as well. They quickly found out that his open and kind demeanor was now gone, nowhere to be seen in their interactions. Instead what they got was a cold hearted man, a man who was distant from everyone and everything back home. Soon people began to distance themselves from him, they began to ignore him and overtime he became an outcast, he was rejected. The one place he thought he could belong in was stripped from him. Not only because of war, but also because people could not accept this new Locus.

His life was forced down the path of a mercenary life from then on. He decided to abandon all past ties and leave his hometown for good. There was nothing there for him now, no hope as he had originally thought. Packing his bags, he left without a word, with no note of goodbye. He simply left his old life behind for good. Walking down the track that is life, wondering where it may lead him, he found himself going back to the military to retrieve his old armor and soon go AWOL. This allowed him to keep his suit, now rebranded in grey and green colors, and lay low to outrun the UNSC.

He never picked this life, he didn't want to pick it but he was there now. The tracks soon led to an intersection with an old acquaintance and rival going by the name of Felix. The rest after that was history.

…Locus sat with his head low. He gripped the edge of his bed and humped over. _True redemption, can there even be such a thing for me now?_ Locus noticed a blinking light on the room's built-in communicator and got up to answer it. "This is Locus."

"We need you down here sir, it's an emergency. That prisoner you brought in by the name of Lavernius Tucker has escaped."

 _What?!_ Locus quickly rushed for his helmet and gun. Equipping himself, he ran out of his room and to Tucker's holding cell as quickly as he could. "I'm on my way!"

* * *

A few station soldiers and Locus stared into Tucker's room. The soldier in charge looked all around for any other clues whilst explaining the situation. "We came in here to do the usual rounds, and to check in on all the prisoners. When we checked in on this one, there was no one here. Opening the cell we found that the prisoner had escaped."

Locus studied the open vent. A soldier held up the vent cover and studied it in curiosity. "Sir, there are no screws or bolts on here. How would have even opened it? Isn't this electronically controlled?"

 _Seems as though he and his A.I. fragment were not completely helpless_ , Locus pondered exiting the cell alongside the squad leader. "He is using the vents, get your men positioned at every ventilation exit we know of. Tell them to keep their ears open for any noises coming from the ceiling."

"Yes sir," the squad leader replied placing two fingers on his helmet's in-built radio and gave out various orders. Locus readied his rifle and walked around with the flashlight on in the darker areas. Periodically Locus stopped and took a moment to stabilize his breathing and heighten his senses. This was bringing back the thrill of the hunt back into him, and the primal nature of human beings was beginning to surface.

Inside the vents, Tucker moaned at the tight squeeze. Sigma continued to display their progress on the collected map data. "If you take the next right and choose to exit on the third ventilation cover after the turn, you will be very close to the parking area of this building. You could take a vehicle and escape."

"Escape to where? I would only be running deeper into the colony, bow-chicka-bow-wow," Tucker argued doing his best to keep his voice down.

"It is your only option. As counter-productive as it may seem in the long run, it will certainly give you a lot of time to formulate a better plan Captain Tucker."

"I'm sure they will give me that time on a silver platter, if it were only that easy," Tucker replied twisting and turning his body around the corner. Tucker's body completely froze however when he heard a foreign voice in his ears. "I think I heard something."

 _Shit, move it! Gotta move it faster!_ Tucker shuffled with as little noise possible and as fast as possible towards his destination. The voice alerted the others and they quickly began to scramble beneath him. Tucker safely made it over the first ventilation cover, but just as he was going over the second, all of the covers suddenly burst open! Tucker's body arched downwards causing him to fall with the cover. With a loud thud, all the soldiers in the hallways were now on full alert and began their chase.

"Oh fuckberries!" Tucker made a break for it! He pushed past several of the guards who tried to restrain him. Just as he was close to escaping the floor in general, he was caught off guard by Locus who de-clocked in the door frame. Tucker saw behind him, and there was basically a small army was coming for him. He decided to take his chances with escape and threw several punches at Locus. With ease Locus avoided them all and countered many.

"Ow, son of a bitch!" Tucker shouted getting elbowed in the back. Locus walked towards Tucker who was now on the ground tired and out of breath. "Give up."

"In your dreams asshole!" Tucker shouted quickly getting up and throwing a punch. Locus in quick precision and instincts dodged it and threw a mean right hook at Tucker's jaw line. The aqua soldier was motionless with moans of pain leaving him breathless. Locus followed the other soldiers back to Tucker's cell. Before they left, Locus made sure to rectify the ventilation issue. "Weld the cover to the wall."

"Yes sir."

"We should have never let you go back on Chorus."

Locus looked down to see Tucker now awake. He ignored the prisoner and checked the welding job. "We should have stopped you then and there."

"When I said that I would make things right, I wasn't lying."

"This isn't any better than lying," Tucker replied trying to move his restrained arms. Locus stepped down and collected his weapon. "Change takes time."

"Seems to me like you are fucking it up royally so far."

Locus stopped in his tracks to consider Tucker's words, but quickly continued on his way. He stared at one of the soldiers and advised them. "Give him an electric collar with a built-in tracker. We need to take proper measures at avoiding something like this in the future."

"Yes sir."

Locus turned to look back at Tucker. "Use your time more wisely instead of trying to escape. You may not realize it, but you are steadily running out of time."

* * *

In the boss' room, the major figures gathered. The boss looked at the two new figures that enter besides Justice. "Truth, Pure, it has been a while."

"That it has," Truth replied with his hands behind his head. Behind them followed Locus, and the boss immediately went quiet. The boss looked away from the group and tapped his metal fingers against his table. "You all must have heard by now about the recent escape attempt by our guest I presume?"

"Yeah, this begs the question. Why are we even having this meeting in the first place instead of taking care of the matter ourselves?" Truth inquired crossing his arms. He found these meetings to be an enormous waste of everyone's time when there was a clear solution present. Justice shook her head at her colleague in disapproval. Pure in a heavy, yet soft and caring voice replied. "We can't use violence as our solution for everything."

"Are you really being a pacifist Pure? I mean you are a well built guy who is able to break fifty freaking bricks with his bare hands for crying out loud," Truth argued only to be ignored. But he did feel those words to be suitable for Pure to some extent. "Then again, I guess pacifism does suit you considering your name."

"If we are done with the unproductive arguments," the boss interrupted with a sharp tone. Everyone faced him in a matter of mere seconds. "We need to eliminate the problem at its core. You all know what that would mean."

Locus felt some worry rise from within him. "Re-consider what you are saying."

"Locus, as much as I respect your advice both as a friend and associate, I must also do what is best for us. I can't keep proven threats in such close proximity to our people."

"As cruel as that is, we will have another sword in our hands," Justice added, though this did not bode well with her considering their recent events and behavior toward their own. She understood Tucker's situation, he was not directly related to the UNSC, and so she felt a sense of empathy for him. But at the same time she had to be rational and see the bigger picture. To achieve the justice they all seek, they need the swords.

"I know I have asked for a lot from you in the past," Locus started looking all around the room. "But this is important. To kill Tucker would mean corrupting everything you stand for and have told me."

The boss stared up at Locus, both stared one another in the eyes. The boss wondered Locus' words and saw value in there, but he also saw danger. He stopped tapping his fingers and crossed his hands. "One more chance, and that is all I will give him. Locus, my patience runs extremely thin. If you really want for Captain Tucker to survive, then I suggest you do more to convince him to join us. Otherwise we will be left with no choice but to take extreme measures."

Locus looked beyond his visor with his worries slightly dying down. He turned around to leave. He stopped by the elevator doors and let his head fall deep in thought. _I may have to take extreme measures myself if things keep up at this pace_.


	8. Save my Sanity

**Chapter 7: Save my Sanity**

Now playing Message-022:

You know, I always thought about something that bugged me for the longest of times now. The director of Project Freelancer was a brilliant mind. I always wondered how easy it was for a man such as him to be broken down by memories. Then through that pain he went on to create me, only that I was nothing more than a slave at that time.

The director always had maintained some composure around everyone, but only at the end did I really get to see a man completely broken down to the core due to his suffering. In our last moments, he said something curious. These were his words, 'You were my greatest creation.'

Sounds kind of weird right?

But the weirder thing is that when I replied to that, he said he wasn't talking to me. Clearly the only other person in the room was Carolina. I didn't understand why he would say something like that at the time, but in my anger I left him to die alone.

It was only after spending a lot of time with sis, eh that's Carolina. After spending a lot of time with her, I began to understand why he would say that she was his greatest creation. Not only because of the capable soldier she is, but because of the strength she carries, which is very similar to that of her mother, both mentally and physically.

Just like Allison, Carolina is a strong and independent woman. But at the same time she carries that sense of compassion that Allison did. I guess she was part of the reason why the director did what he did even if it involved hurting her in the process. He might have just wanted for his daughter to be able to see her mother again, to talk to her somehow.

You know, when I left with Carolina on Chorus, I didn't know what was going to happen. I just left on a whim thinking that I could do some good with her. But I also learned that she can be quite reckless in her compassionate and good nature. To help those she believes deserve it, she will put herself in harm's way. She really is reckless, even for her own good.

The loss she has experienced and the pain she goes through with her own memories haunting her. I know them well enough from my time with her. Maybe you will get to know it as well, but just remember to not crush under that pressure and those feelings. Just take it all in strides.

I know you may not understand my relationship with sis just yet, but take care of her for me okay?

End of Recording.

* * *

 _Two-hundred and one, two-hundred and two, two-hundred and three…_ , Carolina gazed intently at the ground as she felt her body weaken over time from her push-ups routine. Many soldiers observed her and sister from the sidelines. However one got more attention than the others. Carolina lay on the mat feeling her arms turned to jelly.

She looked to her side to see Sister bending over and showing off her flexibility and a little bit of her armor cleavage. The men cheered her on just as they were about to get a nice view even if she was in her armor. _Ugh, pigs_ , Carolina thought slowly standing up.

Carolina reached for her towel and wiped her forehead clean. She found a water bottle being offered to her, turning to her side she saw Washington. "Here."

"Thanks," she replied quickly twisting off the cap and drinking at least half of it in one go. Wash crossed his arms and shook his head staring at Sister. Carolina let out a sigh noticing Wash's fixated gaze. "Don't tell me she has you on the hooks to."

"What, Sister? Don't be ridiculous. I was just thinking about the face Grif would make if he were to see this."

"He would probably explode."

"Haha, yeah I guess he would," Wash mused noticing the orange soldier. _What perfect timing_ , Wash wondered, and he closely studied the now increasingly agitated orange soldier. Grif ran into the view of many earning several remarks to get off the mat. "Get out of the way asshole!"

"Up yours buddy!" Grif shouted back as he took Sister by her hand and dragged her off. "What did I tell you about embarrassing the family?!"

"I was just showing them the moves mom taught me from the circus."

"You were showing them more than that," Grif replied shaking his head. _Just how stupid is she? Dear lord why was I given such a stupid sister?_ He pondered face palming. "Now go to your room missy! Go write in your diary or do your nails or whatever it is you do away from other people!"

"Well I just get drunk and start visiting these interesting sites involving a camera and no clothes."

"I don't want to know," Grif shouted stomping off. _Argh! Now I'm angry. Maybe food will help me calm my nerves_. He walked off to the cafeteria deck leaving Sis to stroll on back to the men.

* * *

 _Are they seriously using this motherboard? Good thing they had a spare one lying around in storage with better specs_ , Simmons thoughts as he unhooked all the wiring from within the machine's frame. He unplugged the motherboard from the device and inserted the new one. _There, now on to the software next_.

After putting everything together, he powered up the machine. Simmons was quickly disgusted at the UI. _Geez, what are they using, Windows 95 or something? This is getting deleted. It's a good thing I carry around an install copy of Windows 10 with me. With all the hardware upgrades it should rum buttery smooth_.

Simmons restarted the machine and went into the BIOS. He picked the option to boot up from the USB he had inserted into a free port. _There, now time to work the magic_. Simmons restarted the machine seeing the expected screen pop up as the OS set itself up. Just as Simmons set up the admin account, a UNSC soldier walked in. "What are you doing in here? This area is off limits to passengers."

"Oh, sorry. But I noticed that you guys were using a really outdated OS, looked like the one my grandma would use. So I took the liberty of updating it to Windows 10. I can't believe the UNSC was so behind on tech upgrades this whole time. Not to mention, when I opened up the computer, I saw a whole lot of old tech in there. I updated that to, no need to thank me."

"Thank you?! That was standard UNSC equipment that you just messed with!"

"Oh…well at least you can get a shiny new interface in exchange."

"You said Windows 10?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Simmons inquired seeing the soldier becoming increasingly agitated. "You just installed a malware OS on our ship?! Just great!"

"I'm sure it's not all that b- ," Simmons froze to see the lights around them all go red. _Oh, well fuck me!_ He thought as the soldier rushed to the computer. "This better not be related to your upgrades!"

 _I think I'm just going to squeeze on out of here_ , Simmons pondered slowly backing away while the soldier's back was turned to him.

* * *

"Sir please stop touching that," a UNSC soldier replied slowly walking towards Sarge. The red leader turned a screw on the engine ignoring the words of an authority figure. "Sir, if you don't stop. I will have to have you restrained!"

"What's this? Insubordination!" Sarge replied whacking the soldier with the butt of his shotgun. "Anyways, who designs such a quiet engine? It's almost like everyone has turned into a no good hippie."

"But it's good for the environment sir."

"You listen to me son, engines are supposed to be loud and harmful to the environment. What is this thing powered on?"

"Solar."

"See, there is one of many problems. If you use diesel on this baby, you will increase engine noise by at least three decibels. I swear, environmentalists take the fun out of everything."

"Sir, please don't touch that component!" the soldier asked trying to hold Sarge still. Sarge looked around all confused as he shook his head in disapproval. "What's got you so worked up? This engine isn't going to break under my care. This work of beauty deserves better care!"

* * *

Grif stood still before a hand that stopped him from entering. The soldier that shook his head planted his feet firmly on the ground. "Sorry sir, but upon Captain's orders I'm not allowed to let you into the cafeteria."

 _What?! This is some sick punishment for when I raided their cafeteria last time_. Grif grumbled under his helmet and quickly did his best to push past the soldier. He was stopped in his efforts by several other UNSC soldiers from the behind. "Okay fine, I give up!"

"But there is a special area that was prepared just for you sir."

 _Special area that was prepared just for me?_ Grif pondered intrigued by the news. "Okay?"

"Follow me," the soldier announced with Grif following close. They walked down to one of the storage areas. The soldier unlocked the door and motioned inside. "This whole storage area has been stored with food upon the Captain's orders. As he said, 'let him pig out here'."

"Score," Grif exclaimed walking inside to food heaven. There was food all around him, one of his many dreams and now it was fulfilled. The door shut behind him and he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. _What morsel shall I consume first?_

* * *

"I spy with my little eye something shin-"

"Star," Doc replied before Donut could even finish.

"You are really good at this Doc, how did you guess?"

"Gee, I don't know. It's not like the only thing in space we normally see are stars and the black void."

"Good point, this game is getting boring. I bet if Caboose was here, he would have many games we could all play together."

"I guess," Doc replied doing his best to kill his boredom.

* * *

Captain Muffins stared at the prisoner who was quickly slumping over the table with every word Caboose uttered. "Someone please make him stop…"

 _I guess the blue man has the crazy effect on all_ , Muffins pondered as he turned from the prisoner soldier to Caboose. A glass of chill water rested gently on the desk. The prisoner slowly reached out for it with a numbed mind. _If I stay here any longer, I feel like he will kill off all of my brain cells_.

The prisoner saw Muffins move from his spot walking closer. The Captain shut Caboose earning some gratification from the prisoner. However that gratification quickly turned to fear when Muffins drew his gun. "Alright so here is what is happening. I'm tired of this blue man talk you go dumb dumb routine ja? So I just feel like shooting you now. Which knee do you choose?"

"Well if I had to choose, I would pick my right foot over a knee. But I don't want to be shot."

"Too bad, I am the captain of this ship. What I say goes."

"Find some compassion in your heart?" the prisoner asked in a squeamish voice only to hear Muffins disengage the safety. _Mommy!_ The prisoner quickly raised his arms in front of him and began to speak in broken words. "P- Please, f- find yo- your heart!"

"Info or the bullet, your pick mumbling man," Muffins replied bringing the gun closer to the prisoner. The prisoner quickly nodded his head in submission. "Okay, um so the station specs, the base has several turret defenses on the surface. There are also a few energy cannon attachments. Most of the docks are protected by an energy shield on top of their physical defence."

"That's stupid, why not cover the whole station in the energy shield?" asked the Captain. The prisoner shook his head. "It doesn't work like that. We don't have enough energy and resources on the space station to power it for the whole base. So we only use it to protect the more vulnerable points."

"What more delicious words can you offer man of mumbles?" Caboose asked coming forward towards the table. The prisoner raised his arms in fear. "Please keep him away! My sanity hangs on by a thread, don't take it away from me!"

 _Now you know how I felt before_ , Muffins thought gently pushing Caboose back. The prisoner calmed a little defending himself. "L- Look, I already told you all that I know about the station's defenses."

"Ja it is appreciated," Muffins replied pulling out his gun again. Without hesitation, the good Captain shot the prisoner in his right knee. "Ow son of a bitch! And I said the right foot!"

"Knee, foot, same thing. Plus I be the Captain, so what I say goes," Muffins replied turning around to walk away. Caboose began to be freaked out at the sight of this grown man who was slowly breaking down into tears. "Y- Yeah I think I will just leave now as well."

* * *

"Captain," one of the ship mates called out just as he entered the ship's main deck. "The engines are ready to make the slip space jump. We only need the command."

"Fine, engage the portal engine thingy to make the jump!"

"Uh yes sir."

"Good good, now I believe I shall go have some sausage sauerkraut for a job well done. I love this job, shout random orders and eat food!" Muffins spoke to himself leaving the rest of the crew to wonder how he ever made it to the position of the Captain in the first place. Little did they know the terrible fate the last captain suffered at the hands of Muffins, and the dreaded lying cake, and death gas.


	9. Corrupt Act

**Chapter 8: Corrupt Act**

The boss stared at Tucker from behind the glass, safe within the dark confines. Tucker remained as quiet and persistent as ever in his fight to defy all open options given to him. "Your escape attempt was not smart Captain Tucker. If you blame me for that electric collar around your neck, then you only have your own actions to blame."

Tucker stayed quiet. The boss sat back and shook his head. _You really love testing my patience every time we do these sessions don't you?_ He then heard some volume rise from Tucker's side. "What makes you think I will ever trust a jackass who hides in shadows?"

The boss crossed his hands together, he could not argue against the statement. He turned to look around at his two colleagues and nodded towards them. "Captain Tucker, give me a few minutes, I will be right with you."

 _Whatever_ , Tucker thought as he gripped the arms of his restraint wheel chair. Few minutes later, Tucker grew tired of waiting. _Just let me go back already_ , he pondered. He was quickly shaken out of his boredom however when the door opening sound Tucker suddenly came from behind. "Finally decided to call it quits today huh?"

"Not exactly."

Tucker's ears perked up at hearing the boss's voice. It sounded close, Tucker tried to twist his neck and see what was behind him. In the darkness, he could not make out the object which accompanied a long winded squeaking noise. It was only when the entrant entered the spotlight Tucker could see the object.

It was a wheel chair, on the wheel chair sat a scarred man with several burns on his body. It seemed as though his body suffered extensive damage, especially his limbs. For his arms, there were two prosthetic limbs. For his legs, well they didn't exist from the thigh down.

A cripple in a wheel chair.

The man turned to look at his captive. There were major burns on his face as well, but not as serious that they required constant medical support. His dark brown hair however was short and patchy at best with several bald spots. "Hello Captain Tucker."

"Um…hey, who are you?"

"My name is Equal. I am the one who has been talking to you all this time through the microphone."

 _Okay, I did not expect this_ , Tucker pondered constantly studying the man up and down. _How could this guy even run such a big rebel group in this condition?_

"So does this put you more at ease Captain?" Equal asked as he slowly rolled in front of Tucker. He got no answer out of the aqua soldier. "You no doubt have several questions for me I presume, one of which will undoubtedly be 'why are you doing this?' Would you like to know?"

This caught Tucker's attention, and the sudden interest did not go unnoticed by Equal. He gently nodded his head in understanding. "Maybe understanding our reasons will better help give you a perspective of our side. It may finally persuade you."

Tucker remained silent at Equal's words, and simply waited with growing impatience for the reasons. Equal did not waste any more time as he looked at his prosthetic limbs. "You already know who we fight. We fight the UNSC, but why is it we fight them? I said before that they are corrupt and we are doing our best to root out that corruption. To do this, we have to destroy the organization itself for who knows how deep and thick that corruption is."

Tucker's head fell in annoyance. _More of this bullshit again_ , he wondered and this action did not go unnoticed by Equal. Motioning his prosthetic arm, he caught Tucker's attention again. "Understand Captain Tucker that I was originally a part of the UNSC during the Great War. I served faithfully only to return to a place where I was quickly rejected. I then sought a peaceful life for myself elsewhere in this galaxy, away from Earth which was a constant reminder of my past. But even after I found that peaceful life on the planet this station is close to, that was soon snuffed away from me by force. The UNSC forced me into this position of hatred and intense rage towards them."

* * *

Several years ago…

Equal had gotten settled into the set routine of this planet. In the morning, wake up and take care of the appropriate pleasantries. Then it would be off to either working in the mineral deposits, agriculture or construction. Those were the main sectors of the planet on which it thrived on. The UNSC set up shop on this planet with the intention of using it as a resource mine. Not only did it create work but also a stable economy for various job sectors.

Things were going fine, the planet and its people, and everyone else were prospering. But the events that transpired that one particular day brought everything he believed in about the UNSC into a questionable light. On that faithful morning, a sudden notice was dispatched to all the residents of the planet. UNSC operations were to cease in a matter of five months. From that point on, clean up would begin as well as relocation of those the UNSC choose to keep employed. Those who were laid off, they always had the option to take one of few transports back to Earth until a new opportunity arose.

Thankfully for Equal, the UNSC was keen on keeping him. His technical skills compounded by the skills he picked up in his time in the military helped make him a valuable asset. He was happy, after all the hardships he had to endure during the war and after it, he was glad to be under a safety net. But that safety net did not seem as secure as he had thought. For on that same day several UNSC ships descended across the planet.

 _What's going on?_ He pondered exiting the miner and wiping his forehead. The ships headed towards the residential areas. Amongst several questions, there was some concern being raised in their tones. "Are they here for transport?"

"They sure as hell wouldn't send a fleet for that," another miner commented. That miner was right. Generally it would only be one ship per the major residential sectors. _Did they decide to fast track the decommissioning?_ Equal wondered as he took a drink of his water. Suddenly, they all heard a shriek!

"What the fuck was that?" one of the miners asked in panic. The others told him to calm down as several went to check on the commotion. Equal stared in the direction of the scream alongside the others. The miners were out of view and had been so for a while now. Just as everyone was almost convinced that things were fine and were about to go back to work, they heard several more screams! Equal abandoned his post and ran towards his home out of worry. _What the hell is going on?!_

Entering the residential areas, he saw flames eating up several homes and many residents being pushed around by the UNSC soldiers. _What the fuck?_ Equal ran into the streets to see several of the soldiers drunk. He saw a group of drunken soldiers loitering around and eying various women in the colony.

"Hey, what's going on here, why is the UNSC here at the residential quarters?!" Equal demanded only to be pushed out of the way by the soldiers. They all began to chase a few women who in fear ran away. _They are out of their god damned minds_.

* * *

Equal roamed the streets to see what had been once a calm, peaceful and orderly place now turned into complete chaos. Upon hearing the scream of another woman, he went to investigate and found a shocking sight. Several UNSC soldiers who were drunk out of their minds held booze bottles up towards a young girl. "Come on baby, just a couple of shots of this and we can all have a good time together."

"Yeah, I got a good time for you in my pants here," one of the soldiers suggested with several of them laughing hysterically at the remark. Equal quickly jumped in between the girl and the soldiers. "What the hell do you think you are doing trying to victimize a young girl like this? You are all soldiers for crying out loud!"

"Hey buddy, you want some to? I swing both ways if you get my meaning."

They all continued to laugh in madness as their world grew dizzier by the seconds. Equal took the bottles away from them and threw them away. They all looked unhappy and grew in rage. "You bastard, why did you do that?!"

One of the soldiers gripped Equal by his shoulder but quickly found himself on the losing end. Equal twisted under the soldier's hand and with it he twisted the soldier's arm. Kicking the soldier on the knee he caused that soldier to fall to the ground and with one final kick to the head, the soldier was down for good. The other soldiers jumped for Equal all at the same time. Jumping out of the way, he took the girl's hand and began to outrun the group of drunkards.

Entering a narrow and complex set of back alleys, the two escapees managed to lose their attackers with ease. Equal looked back to the girl who couldn't have been older than twenty five. "You alright?"

"Yes, thank you!"

Equal looked all around for the perfect moment of escape. He tugged the girl at her arms just as she finished catching her breath. "Stick close to me."

The two quickly escaped their alley undetected. On the main street, several houses were pillaged and gunshots were going off. The girl right behind Equal was terrified, and she could not control her body's shaking. Equal looked back in short intervals at the girl, and with a look of reassurance he lead on. "You will be fine."

They exited onto another street on which Equal saw his apartment being raided. _Good thing I didn't store anything valuable in there_. He quickly hid at the sound of a few Warthogs coming towards them. The two jeeps drove in random patterns, barely managing to keep on road. On the second Warthog, from what Equal could deduce was the fleet captain, an aged man with his uniform in a mess and stinking of booze. _What is the meaning of this?_

Just then the Warthogs steered off the road and loudly crashed into the buildings. Equal peeked outside to find many soldiers lying on the ground. The captain with a broken arm walked into view kicking a stray wheel. "God damn machines!"

A few of the soldiers stood up wobbly and nearly losing their balance. The captain leaned on a few for support only to fall down alongside them in their stupor. "Fucking hell you maggots can't do anything right!"

Few more stood up and began walking in random directions. Equal felt the girl's hand shaking even more aggressively now. He looked back once at her and took a tight hold by her arms. "Listen to me, we will be fine. Trust me."

Quickly she froze in her spot as her mouth slowly dropped open. _At least she has stopped shaking, but what is she pointing at?_ He wondered following her finger. Before he could even make sense, he was knocked off guard by a strong punch to the nose. _What the hell?!_ Equal's vision was blurred from the forceful contact. He quickly found his body being restrained, and soon his vision cleared to see several of the drunken soldiers holding him down.

Several others surrounded the girl into a corner. Many of them made suggestive motions towards her as they began to violently grip at her clothes and tear them away. Equal reached out struggling against the grip that held him down. "Stop!"

They tore away her bra and pushed her hard against the building wall. Many of them undid their zippers and against her cries they forced her on the ground with her back against them. "Stop!"

"Not another word out of you!" his restrainer shouted hitting Equal hard on the back of the head. He began to black out, and all he could hear were her helpless cries quickly turning to despair as they forcibly had their way with her…

* * *

"Bring that one over here now."

Equal slowly came to as he found himself being dragged along. He was soon met face to face with the fleet captain. "You fought in the war didn't you?"

Equal remained quiet and he looked to his right and saw a truck full of bodies. His eyes opened wide in shock. "What have you people been doing?!"

"I ask the questions around here!"

"What happened to the girl with me?!"

The captain grew agitated and raised a hand against Equal. "I ask the questions!"

In anger Equal spat on the captain's face. The soldiers looked at one another in fear, while they were impressed with Equal's courage to stand up against their captain, they were afraid of what may happen to them due to this minor incident. The captain wiped his face clean and delivered several visceral blows to Equal's face and stomach. "You fucking miner! I'm in-charge of this planet, and that means I own you!"

The captain motioned for one of his soldiers to come forward. That soldier carried a chainsaw in his hands. "Show him what he gets for messing with me."

"Y- Yes sir."

The two soldiers holding Equal tied him down to the ground. The soldier with the chainsaw started it up and stood by Equal's left leg. Equal could tell something bad was about to happen, something very bad. The soldier raised the chainsaw and quickly swung it downwards as the teeth pierced into Equal's leg. Equal's screams were like music to the captain's ears. He sat down on the ground happily observing the blood spray everywhere and the crackle of the muscles tearing and bones breaking echo all around them. The captain motioned for the soldier to do the other leg as well. Without sympathy, without hesitation the soldier cut off all the arms and legs off of Equal and left a cripple broken man crying in pain.

The captain laughed violently as he stood up. "See that, that's what you get fucker! Now put him out of his misery."

Many of the other soldiers all surrounded Equal with cans of gasoline. They started to pour the dangerous liquid onto Equal's body and left a trail leading back to the captain. As the captain lit up a cigarette, he took one puff of it and dropped it in the gasoline trail. The fire slowly crept at first, but then quickly ran towards Equal making contact. More screams of pain escaped him as the fire quickly engulfed his whole body.

The captain began to laugh violently while taking several shots of his whiskey. "The idiot can't even flail properly."

But before the captain could derive anymore entertainment out of this sight, he was abruptly interrupted by sound of gunfire. "Which one of you assholes fired that?"

The soldiers looked around and shrugged their shoulders. "For fuck's sakes, the one time we loosen up and somebody fucks it up."

The captain however soon found it rather difficult to utter more words and act all high and mighty. The soldiers were all surrounded by several of the colonist holding the UNSC guns. The captain quickly got a grasp on the situation and smirked to himself. "What the fuck is this? Little colonists think they can stop us, fight back and be heroes? Guess what, the real heroes are us, those in the military."

"You are monsters!" one of the colonists shouted. The captain did not take kindly to that slur. He threw down his whisky bottle and ordered for all the soldiers to draw their weapons and open fire. Quickly it became a blood bath, and amongst the screams of the victims and gunfire, Equal was left to ponder his final few moments. However it seemed as though a guardian angel watched over him. Just as he was about to go silent, a colonist doused him in a lot of water. Equal quickly felt his body go limp, his pain receptors overloaded and vital signs hanging on by a thin thread.

For the planet and Equal, things had completely changed. For them, it was a brand new fight now. There was no more escaping the planet, no more trusting the UNSC and no more of simply worrying about a job. It was a matter of survival and justice now. The truth could not be suppressed. They would not let it be so. But it was, no news of this incident broke out and the UNSC no doubt did their best to cover it all up to maintain a good public image.

During the time Equal took to recover out of the danger zone, he learned of the damage done to their planet and the people. From the moment he could once again speak, he swore to fight back the corruption and bring it into the light. From the moment he was given his prosthetic arms, he swore to help rebuild a new order and life for everyone. From the moment he was given a wheel chair, he swore to lead his people forward into a new future.

* * *

…Equal stared at his hands again in wonderment. "So much damage, so much crime, corruption, and hate all inflicted onto us and for what reasons? As I learned it later, it was because the planet was being decommissioned and so the soldiers in charge of the planet decided to take several liberties. Their actions caused us misery, but they didn't care about any of that. To them it was all a matter of fun."

Tucker remained speechless at the information laid heavily onto his head. Equal turned around to leave and looked back to Tucker one last time. "Your UNSC is not as innocent as you may have once thought it to be. The world is not black and white Captain."

Suddenly a twisted grin crossed Equal's lips. He leaned in closer taking a hold of Tucker's right hand. "Would you like to feel the pain of losing a limb so that we may better relate?"

Tucker's body tried to jerk back at the threat. _this dude is fucking crazy!_ Equal was amused at the reaction. He released Tucker's hand and motioned for a few station employees to come into the room. "I think it's best if we end our session here for today. Think about everything that I have talked about."

* * *

Locus followed close behind Equal, and as they entered the elevator, the two faced one another. Equal looked everywhere but at Locus. "I know what you are thinking Locus, and I don't regret doing what I just did."

"Think carefully Radon," Locus began only to be stopped by a sharp look from both Equal and Justice. Equal shook his head slamming a fist against the wheelchair's arm rest. "You know I have long since abandoned that name. Do not bring it up again. It is nothing but a reminder of the chains I was once tied to by the UNSC, the government and human society."

"Equal," Locus started correcting his name usage. "What you did, showing yourself to Tucker was a risky move. You have shown your face to Tucker now and have exposed your identity. That was never your intention."

"No it wasn't. But I have also come to realize that maybe expecting something from him for nothing would be unfair."

"Even so-"

"Locus, we cannot hope to persuade Captain Tucker with mere words. In order to earn his allegiance, we need to establish a sense of trust. I'm sure you will agree that doing so from the shadows is very difficult," Equal explained studying the opening doors. They had arrived at their destination. "I also imagine that perhaps explaining where we come from, the reasons for our cause may better help him see things more…clearly."

"But you do realize the danger you have put yourself into now?" Locus questioned still surprised at the improvised actions Equal took at his own liberty. Equal nodded with a small smile. "I know it all too well. But sometimes we have to take some risks with the hopes of a huge payoff."

Locus stopped to see Justice and Equal enter his office. He looked down at the ground in deep thought and then stared out the windows. _But is it worth the risk?_


	10. Recon

**Chapter 9: Recon**

Now playing Message-057:

If you are already at this message, then you must really love hearing me ramble on and on. To be honest I am quite surprised that you would even stick with it this long. But then again, I suppose that is to be expected considering how you were once a direct part of me.

So what shall I talk about today? I know, let's try something different. You know, I always felt like the relationship I had with everyone was rather unique. Our crazy misfit adventures no doubt helped further validate that feeling. Within those adventures we all found a place to belong to, and I found friends to be with even when things seemed to get really shitty. I mean yeah we had our disagreements, but in the end things always worked out for better or for worse.

I would say that with the reds, my relationship with them was more or less professional, or at least as professional as I could get. But I will say that Grif always stood out to me aside from everyone else in the red team. He is a fat fucker no doubt, but he is deceptively so. Plus he always seemed like the smartest one whenever it came to manipulating others, a useful trait in times of extreme danger.

But my main focus in this message is everyone on the blues. Agent Washington and I got off to a bad start, you already know about that from some of the earlier recordings. Still, we repaired it over time, even as far as where I accepted him as part of the group and as a friend.

Tucker is the main subject here though. When Alpha first moved to Blood Gulch, there weren't that many blues. Only two other people besides him really, there was Captain Flowers and Tucker. Captain Flowers from the sounds of it was a chill guy, too bad Alpha accidently ended up killing him.

You know what, now that I think about this, we seems to have quite a tendency to go around team killing don't we? First it was Captain Flowers and then it was Alpha. By the way, if you ever get the opportunity to say anything to the group. Tell Caboose that I still haven't forgiven him for being a team killing fucktard.

As I was saying, Tucker was one of the first few individuals the Alpha had gotten to know in Blood Gulch. Those memories of course got passed down to me through Caboose. Now hold the line, I know what you are thinking. How can I trust him if he said before that Caboose is not a reliable source of information? I wouldn't blame you for thinking that, but trust me. I have cross referenced this information with the others who were there in those memories. So at least you will be getting a clean explanation, more than just fluffy cats and birthday cakes.

When Alpha first met Tucker, he really came off as fucking annoying. But over time I guess Alpha formed an attachment of sorts to him. Otherwise I am sure Tucker would not have stuck around this long, or wouldn't be alive at all. They were after all travelling with fully loaded guns…even if Alpha was a terrible shot. Just a heads up, you might be a terrible shot as well, it kind of runs in the family.

But you know what, after all the times I talked to Tucker, I always realized that the conversation would somehow steer back to one thing, girls. Yup, he was a desperate guy always wanting to try and get into a girl's pants. Good thing he didn't try this on Carolina, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to walk for a good two weeks if he had done so. He did once asked me a fucked up question though. You see, I consider Carolina to be like a sister to me. So when he asked if I had seen her naked after hearing that I live with her, I felt some disgust but could not help but know that this was the classic Tucker. Even after everything, what made Tucker so Tucker was not completely lost.

Heh, I'm sure he would lose his mind trying to imagine it but I did get a view of her stripping her armor quite a few times when she would want to go for a shower or something. Yeah, I bet Tucker would kill to get a good peek at that. And I also imagine that that would be the last thing he would ever see. He will probably make this awkward to, stalk her at every opportunity he could get like a psycho stalker or some shit.

But that's enough about Tucker. Simply put, he is a pervert trying to find every excuse to get into a girl's pants. But he is still a friend. Now let's move on to Caboose. What can I say about him? I guess he is a special case. Ah who am I kidding? The kid is fucking brain dead, maybe a few brain cells that still work properly since he does make sense at times. But other than that the light has long since left his head. It was actually Caboose that killed Alpha the first time around, sure would explain his stupidity before the O'Malley hostile takeover.

Caboose is very confused, brain dead and to top it all off, a five year old in the body of a grown man. Yeah, basically he is putting the literal definition of man-child in the universe. But underneath all that, he is still a good kid. Take care of them all Epsilon, I leave them in your hands.

End of Recording.

* * *

Carolina jerked up her head at the sudden ship turbulence. She rushed up to the main deck and saw that they were exiting the slip space jump. The blue portal closed behind them leaving no trace of its existence. The rest of the crew came up panicking as Donut in a very feminine voice noted. "AHHHH we're all going to die!"

"Stop getting your panties in a twist pinkie," one of the crew mates replied with a disapproving shake of his head. Muffins took note of the insult and shook his head impressed. "Private Buttmunch, that was a very mean insult. I like it."

"That space station," Washington began turning everyone's attention to it. Carolina nodded her head. "It's the one that prisoner spoke of, and it was also in Locus' data provided to us."

"Great, how do we get in?" Simmons asked looking all around the room. He was met with silence, _please don't say that we will be winging it_. Wash shook his shoulders. "I guess we will just wing it."

"No, you do not say that!" Simmons inched closer with an aggressive tone. Wash jumped back with his hands defensively in front of him. "Okay, calm down."

"I guess we can't just go up to front doors and ask nicely to come in after telling them that we intend to fuck up some shit in there," Grif pondered earning a grunt remark from Sarge. "You never know, maybe if we say something like, 'Hello, do you have time to talk about our lord and savior Jesus Christ?' They may just take enough pity on us to let us in heh heh."

"Yeah, let us in right into their psychiatry ward," Doc commented with a grin under his helmet. Carolina looked all around the deck, no ideas came forth. "Caboose, what do you think?"

"Yeah, I was going to say knock on the front door but since that does not seem to be a great idea anymore, I don't think I will say that now."

"Thank you for your useful input as always," Grif sarcastically replied. In return he earned a very unsurprising response. "I'm just glad that someone appreciates my expertise. I would also like noted that I was present for this meeting, I want an A+ on my attendance."

* * *

Captain Muffins walked into the group's discussions. "Well, the ship is maintaining a safe distance from the station. Have you homies come up with a plan?"

"That's what we were trying to do, but every plan just seems too crazy, stupid, simple or just doesn't make any sense at all," Donut replied wondering if the enemy would open their doors upon hearing his manly man singing. _Nah, they would probably just start firing at us either way. Hmm, what do we do?_

"What if we tried exploding our way in?" Sarge suggested going on to discuss a few methods of doing it. Muffins shook his head at the plan. "Nein! We must do this subtly."

"What if we tried hacking their shields to force our way into the docking bay? From there we will just need to defend the ship, which the crew can take care of. The rest of us can go off and find Tucker," Simmons put forth the idea earning several nods all around. Grif however still remained quite skeptical. "How will we even get into the station?"

"Think about it Grif, we have a prisioner who belongs to this organization. He would have some security clearance or something."

"That is a good point Simmons. Maybe Lopez and I can get him to spill a few of those codes for us," Sarge said now on board for that idea, though he was saddened that his explosions idea was turned down. _Darn it, it would have looked epic as well in space_.

"When can we attempt this plan?" Wash asked of Muffins displaying his lack of confidence as well. But right now this plan was better than no plan. Muffins looked to one of his crew mates and motioned for him to come on over. Hearing the private, Muffins explained the situation to the others. "So our engines are fried from the magic portal jump. This ship can go Sonic for only so long. The engines must cool down before we can go anywhere now."

"Seriously, the UNSC has so many resources and they still give you guys this shitty ship?" Grif asked feeling spited by the higher ups. Muffins shrugged his shoulders holding his hands up questionably. "Transport ships are not high on their budget priorities. But at least this ship is adequate enough to begin my universal conquer to bring back the only sane way of living."

"Which would be?"

"A life under das Fuhrer Muffins! Ja! Ja! Ja! Ja!"

* * *

"So when are we launching this attack?" Carolina questioned in her no-nonsense attitude. Muffins felt his spirits take a hit. _Why does the beautiful scary lady not approve? The world is too cruel ja_. "No one refuses to listen to das Fuhrer! We launch once engine cool down."

"Be ready guys, doing this could lead to a small scale war if things go south," Wash advised everyone around them. They all agreed, but at the same time they were ready to risk it for Tucker's sake. Muffins cleared his throat. "I suggest we send out a remotely controlled drone to gather juicy intel."

"That sounds good to me," Sarge replied as the others felt the same. This would give them an opportunity to study for any other exploitable openings in the station. Muffins turned to his privates and shouted. "Private Buttmunch, prepare to launch dem drone ja!"

"Yes sir," the private replied fed up with the Fuhrer act Muffins put on. Sadly for him, he did not realize that Muffins truly believed in himself to be the Fuhrer's reincarnation. He motioned towards the main display screens. "Bring up remote display Buttmunch."

As the video feed became clear, they saw several docking stations. From the design on the outside, they could also determine that hidden guns were stored away on the surface of the station. Wash crossed his arms hoping that the prisoner's accounts were not entirely true. "Well at least we can check off that the prisoner was telling the truth."

"Sadly so," Muffins replied in a low pitch.

"We will be fine, we always have been," Carolina stated optimistically. Wash shook his head vocally questioning. "Yeah, but for how long?"

"Wash, this is not time to be jinxing us. Have a little faith," Sarge said surprised to hear the one person who perhaps showed the most faith in them on Chorus now doubting their own actions. Perhaps Wash did not get off as dandy as others may have believed with Church's death. Carolina placed a hand on Wash's shoulder. "We will be fine, trust us."

She turned to look outside the windows and study the space station. A sense of contempt arose in her with her biting her bottom lip and forming fists on both of her hands. _Wait for us Tucker, we are coming for you. Nothing will stop us from getting to you no matter how strong that force maybe. We will see one another soon_.


	11. The Right Thing to do is Subjective

**Chapter 10: The Right Thing to do is Subjective**

Justice stared at the metal door in front of her. It bothered her that she was forced to stand outside and be blocked by a door while leaving Equal inside the doctor's office. Truth looked to his right to see Justice completely turned towards the door in anticipation. "Calm down Justice, he will be fine."

"How do you know?" she shot back with her eyes piercing deep into Truth's silver eyes. He shrugged his shoulders while blowing out a stray strand of hair from his view. He ran his fingers through the medium sized white hair hanging off to all sides covering the left eye. "I don't know, but he is the best doctor we have on the station."

Justice ignored the easy going tone Truth spoke in. _That's not saying much considering how one fuck up with Equal can bring everything to a ruin_. She found herself sighing heavily. "I should be in there with him."

"Doctor's orders, no non-medical personnel allowed inside," Truth hummed impersonating the doctor's thick accented voice. Justice turned around to stand guard. "I still don't feel good about this."

"Have you thought about branching out from just your work Justice? Maybe go down to a bar or two to pick up some guys. A relationship may do you some good," Truth replied with an immature grin. Justice balled her hands into fists. "You know, I would punch you in your white perlies right now if we weren't restricted from starting up a commotion."

"Okay scary lady, my lips are sealed on any further suggestions," Truth quickly shot back with his hands up in front of him. Justice shook her head at him. _Idiot. And to think that he calls himself Truth, idiocracy will only curse the truth with ignorance_. He noticed her aggravated look and shook his shoulders at her. "What?"

"Nothing," she replied deeming it to be a waste of time to argue with him. Just as she was about to begin focusing on her duties, she heard Equal's painful screams. She quickly turned to the door again and began banging on it. "Hey, open up!"

Truth quickly took a hold of her and tried to calm her down. _Great, here we go again_ , he pondered stopping her from moving around too much. Inside the operating room, Equal lay on the table restrained as the doctors prodded what was left of his legs. A few of the nurses brought a similar contraption to the ones attaching his arms to his body.

The doctors took a scalpel and began cutting away any of the muscles in the way of the potential connection points for the contraption. Another loud scream escaped Equal's mouth. For this procedure, they needed him to be awake. Due to their limited supplies of local anesthesia they had to be smart about their usage. When it was offered to Equal, he turned it down hoping that it could bring relief to someone else. He has suffered much, but nothing has ever peaked the suffering he experienced at the hands of the UNSC soldiers.

"We are going to attach the device now sir," one of the doctors spoke as a nurse wiped his forehead. Equal took a moment or two to grab his breath. He laid his head back feeling the pain slowly come down. "I…just do it."

"Yes sir," the doctor replied nodding to everyone in the room. They attached the contraption to both of Equal's legs and began to sow the nerves in the legs to the device. Equal could feel his vision blurring with his pain spiking up. More painful screams escaped the room to the outside where Justice was still held back by Truth.

"Let me go!"

"Just stop!" Truth shouted at her. "You think I want for Equal to suffer as well? No! But this is a necessary act."

"And you know what will happen if we lose him because of this necessary act!"

"I do, but sometimes risks have to be taken in the hopes of a bigger pay off."

Justice remained quiet lowering her head. She bent down and punched the floor. _Dammit, why of all the times do you choose to be correct right now Truth?!_ She wondered in her anger which she struggled to control. Truth was surprised to see her behave this way. Generally she was a calm and very composed woman who hardly let emotions get in her way. But when Equal's life was in danger, it seemed as though that mask came off revealing quite a vulnerable and a scared Justice.

* * *

Outside, Locus drove his maintenance vehicle, thoroughly checking every sector of the space station. He found no abnormalities so far, except for when an unidentified object appeared on his radar. _What is this about?_ He wondered looking out the windows. He could see nothing in view. He decided to go ahead and investigate flying closer to the red dot on the radar.

He brought his ship to a halt and saw a UNSC surveillance drone flying around the space colony. He brought up a higher resolution real time video feed on his monitors and determined from its model and design that it was not very harmful. _It maybe them, but I didn't expect them to be here so soon_ , he pondered maintaining a distance from the drone.

Locus decides to turn his ship around and head on back. _Attacking right now will just needlessly provoke them and could end up causing an unnecessary battle_. He navigated back to the docks and landed where he was informed that Equal wished to see him. Heading out to the inner city he took a vehicle to Equal's building. Walking into the elevator he rode it all the way up to the top deep in thought. _This is sooner than I expected, but maybe this is a sign pointing to the answers I have been searching for_.

Knocking on the main doors, he heard Equal's voice from the other side. "Come in."

Locus walked in and quickly stopped in his tracks. He saw an individual standing behind Equal's desk with his back turned to Locus. Locus payed close attention to the reflections in the windows, it was Equal who stared back. "It is good to see you come in such a timely manner friend."

"Equal?"

Equal could not help but be amused. A wide grin crossed his face. He walked around the table revealing mechanical prosthetics just like his arms that were controlled via several electrical components. "Surprising is it not?"

"You are walking," Locus said still not believing the man who was in a wheelchair just a few hours ago, now stood up fine and walked around. With a small laugh Equal continued. "Yes I am. I could not believe it myself the moment they attached these legs to me. This means that I can also properly fight for us all instead of just sitting back and giving orders. We can fight together again like old times."

 _Old times…_ , Locus pondered quietly observing Equal walk around showing how fast he could walk, jog or run. Equal stopped to finally sit in the chair that came with his desk. "I can also finally make use of this damn chair that had been here all this time."

Locus silently looked at Equal who crossed his arms. "So the main reason I called for you Locus is that I would like for you to retrieve Captain Tucker. Let's give him a bit of a surprise as well now shall we?"

"Understood," Locus replied leaving Equal's office. _He seemed happy to be walking again. But he will use this ability to wage war will he not? So just how much of a blessing is this?_

* * *

Tucker stared up at the ceiling as he laid still. He silently cursed his situation and looked to his partner. "So much for our escape attempt, and on top of that, it looks like that Equal guy will keep on dragging my ass to those boring sessions."

"Perhaps if we were to formulate a better strategy the next time around, we may be more successful Captain Tucker. We just need to think outside of the box, it is just a matter of being creative."

"That will not be happening," Tucker sat up to hear a familiar voice from behind the cell door. As the door swung open, he saw Locus standing in the door frame. _Great, now I have to deal with him_ , Tucker thought as his shoulders dropped. The silent warrior walked towards Tucker and saw the electric collar tightly fastened around Tucker's neck. He pointed at it with certainty. "If you submit, the collar will be removed. You will also get to live and will have a chance at seeing the others again sooner or later. Cooperate and we will remove the collar."

"Fuck you, I'm not about to listen to the words of a double crossing mercenary."

"I'm just trying to help you."

"Right, by stabbing us in the back by doing the exact opposite of what you said on Chorus."

"I'm trying to make things right. I'm doing exactly what I said I would do."

Sigma took note of the uncertainty behind Locus' tone and conveyed that to Tucker. _So he isn't even sure of his own actions now? What a twist_. Tucker pointed a finger at Locus and stated. "You aren't even sure of your own priorities. You claim to be doing the right thing but so far all I have seen is a station full of psychos bent on taking revenge at the expense of others."

Locus remained quiet at the accusations. His head fell slightly to the words Tucker fired. _An opening!_ Tucker thought as he continued to speak. "Why the hell do you even work for these guys if you are not sure about your own beliefs on them?!"

Locus moved Tucker to the restraint wheel chair through force. He exited the cell with the aqua soldier who still expected an answer. "It's none of your business."

"Tch, figured you might say that."

* * *

Locus and Tucker enter the interrogation room. Equal was already waiting inside in the spotlight. Tucker was surprised to see Equal standing up and about and walking. "Hello Captain Tucker. I hope you are ready for another session."

Tucker could hear the moving noises of the various gears and joints in the prosthetic legs. _Looks like someone got an upgrade_ , Tucker pondered having Sigma secretively run a scan of the prosthetic limbs. Equal walked around the Captain and placed a hand on his wheelchair. "I would like to talk about the importance of allegiance today Captain. Belonging to a cause you can believe in is certainly very important as it gives us both a sense of belonging and validation. It gives our existence some purpose and meaning."

"Spare me the bullshit," Tucker shot back. He could hear the chair handle being crushed. _Did I hit a nerve Equal?_ Tucker pondered smugly. Equal calmed himself and with a heavy breath, he looked up. "Captain, I have discussed this quite a bit in the past with you. But I will continue to do this over and over again until our message gets through to you, or I run out of patience first, which mind you is close to emptying."

Tucker remained quiet giving Equal the leeway to again continue his speech. "As I was originally saying, our cause is one of great importance. It is a cause others can easily sympathize with and believe in. We aim to bring down the corrupting within UNSC, and the only way to do that is by completely destroying and rebuilding it."

"You are insane," Tucker mumbled under his breath. Though the remark did not go unnoticed, but Equal was willing to accept any harsh insults as long as he got his message across. "Our beliefs may seem extreme, or as you put it, insane. But we do this with very valid reasons. There is no forgiving the corrupt individuals. For if given the chance, they will just exploit your kindness and sympathy, there is only punishment."

"So you are just like any other jackass with a power hard-on."

"No, those that seek power for personal gains are corrupt. I seek it to right a wrong for the sake of my people, and the sake of others as well. For that reason I seek to build an army, one that has grown in large numbers over the years. Whether you understand or not, know this that we as a united force will stand against corruption in the UNSC and bring it down so that they may never inflict the same suffering onto anyone else as they did to us."

"Dude, you have serious mental issues you need getting looked at. Just because a few people did something bad, it doesn't mean everyone is bad," Tucker replied jerking forward, but he was annoyingly held back by the restraints. Equal mused over the idea but quickly discarded it. "If one batch goes rotten, then there is an equal chance of it all going rotten. To realize an organization free of corruption, it must be destroyed and rebuilt no matter the cost. Because once corruption plants its seeds, it cannot be so easily rooted out without a complete reformation."

"You all have some serious fucking issues with this idealistic bullshit nonsense," Tucker replied in a somewhat uncaring tone. "I am not about to go and join a bunch of freaks like that."

Equal studied the still soldier and nodded his head in disappointment with a sigh. "That is quite a shame as my patience if running quite thin now, and I have had just about enough of these sessions."

Suddenly Equal's legs twitched with a malfunctioning electrical noise. He fell on his knee down to the ground. _The fuck is going on now?_ Tucker wondered looking around in a panic. Equal stared up at Tucker with clear aggression in his eyes. "If only you were not so resistant to the idea of joining us. Your resistance is starting to get on my nerves, and it is proving to be a great irritation. Maybe I should consider cutting off one of your fucking arms to make you understand the pain that I have been through! Maybe then you will grow up to accept this reality!"

Equal begins to lose the feelings of the attachment between his limbs and the prosthetic legs. He grits his teeth feeling the rise in emotions to be overpowering for his brain. _Strange, I who decided to kill off my emotions in favor of efficiency now stand at the forefront of being flooded by it. But no, I will not be defeated like this!_

Truth and Justice suddenly rush inside the room and bend down beside Equal. Justice rubbed Equal's back trying to calm him. Truth studied the look on Equal's face. He studied the constant struggle and felt great pity. _What life does this man have left aside from our goal of revenge? A life filled with cruel fate in which he is forced to strip himself of what partly makes him human, his emotions_.

"Calm down Equal," said Truth. "If you get too emotional, then the leg prosthetics will malfunction from the chemical imbalance."

"I know," Equal spoke gritting his teeth. He smashes his metal fist against the floor. He does it again and again! After a good five hits he created a small dent on the metal floor. Equal calmed his breathing as Justice looked at Truth with great concern in her eyes. He rubbed the back of his head shutting his eyes. _Don't you break down on me to now Justice_. He helped Equal to stand up and walked him over to the side of the room.

"Equal," Truth called out. "Maybe we should go back to the doctor."

"Yes!" Justice agreed instantly as she held Equal's hands. "He can run a few more tests on the connections. Maybe try to improve it and make you even bett-"

"No!" Equal shouted with a blanket of silence suddenly covering the room. _Man I'm so lost here_ , Tucker thought as he just stared at the mark left on the metal floor. Equal continuously shook his head. "I have had enough of being a guinea pig for them. I will no longer be an experiment. These are the limbs I'm given now and I will make do with what I have."

"But-," Justice was quickly interrupted as Equal held up a hand to her. "I don't want to hear anymore."

Equal turned to face Locus and Tucker, both of whom studied the scene in silence. Locus wanted to reach out to Equal, but there was a sense of hesitation stopping him. _Did I hope that his limbs would malfunction putting him at a disadvantage?_

"Locus, take him back. Captain Tucker, the next time we speak will be the last. After that I will swiftly assign your execution date," Equal announced before leaving the room with Truth's and Justice's aid.

* * *

Locus opened the cell door and slowly pushed Tucker inside. He studied the damaged handle in silence. _He will be hard to reason with now_. Tucker gets up and lies back down on his bed. He faced the wall away from Locus. The silent warrior folded the chair and prepared to leave. Just as he walked out of the door frame, he heard Tuckers voice and looked back. "You still have the chance to do the right thing."

 _The right thing…_ , he pondered shutting the door behind him. _But then if two people believe that one another's actions and thinking are wrong, and that they are justified in their own ideologies, then what is THE right thing?_

Locus watches the lessening traffic on the streets as he rode the elevator up. It was nearly curfew time for all the inhabitants. He departed at one of the residential floors on which his room was on. He briskly walked towards it and entered the pass code on the keypad by his room. As the door slid open, he looked at the empty room signifying an empty feeling within him. _Is that how I feel about all this?_

Locus placed his rifle and sword on a nearby counter. He undid his helmet and removed it onto the side table by the bed. He walked close to the glass windows and stared outside deep in thought. _We pledge our allegiance to find a place to belong into. Yet why is it that I find my heart waning from this? Did I ever even belong here in the first place?_

Tucker's words of doing the right thing echoed in Locus' ears. He turned around and sat down with his hands joined together. With every passing second, their grip became tighter. _Why do I feel so unsure now? I had a plan. I had things worked out and yet…was I wrong?_ Locus looked at his armor with uncertainty. _Have things really changed from when I was on Chorus?_

He gripped the edge of his bed now even deeper in thought. _We all believe we are right, no matter how hard we may try to prove otherwise. So what is THE right thing to do? Equal says it is right to punish the corrupt, and Tucker believes it is right to stop them. They are both two different sides to the same coin in this conflict. But…is my situation not the same as it was on Chorus then if I follow Equal instead of Felix? Even if this partnership is one through kindness and compassion, am I still not following the whims of someone else?_

Locus stood up and walked towards his weapons. He powered up the alien sword and studied it for a moment. _Back on Chorus, I finally did something for myself. But now am I back to square one under the illusion of doing something right? I just don't know anymore. But what is clear to me is that the right thing to do is what I believe is best. No one individual can be told THE right actions and beliefs. It is all subjective_.

He attached the sword to his side and hooked his rifle to the back. _The right thing to do is what I believe is best. To remain in my uncertainty would mean to blindly continue following Equal. He is a friend and an ally, but there are times where none of that matters when it will come to doing the right thing. I will do the right thing_.

With a newfound sense of determination, Locus exited his room and planned on how best to execute his new course of actions.


	12. Redemption

**Chapter 11: Redemption**

Locus struggled against the zero G outside the space station as he walked on the long connection like hallway structure between the various towers of the space station. He firmly planted his right foot ahead of the left and activated the gravity boots. He deactivated that gravity traction field on the left and brought it forward. His struggle was made even worse by the fact he had to carry a container behind him. He stopped at the designated spots and reached inside of the metal box. Taking out what looked like a small black cylindrical object, he planted it firmly onto the station's surface.

Pressing a few buttons, he studied a red light illuminating itself amongst the white lights of the colony. _The lights should be concealed thanks to the surrounding lights_. He moved onto the next spot and planted another one. One after the other, he continued to plant these objects onto the station's surface. After the final one, he stood up straight to study his handiwork. He stood amongst a field of red lights. It was a change of pace from white lights for him. With a gentle sigh he began walking back to his transport maintenance ship. _This is the right thing to do, I believe in it_.

Locus drove the ship back to the designated dock and exited the craft. _Time for step two of my plan_. Locus entered the main colony sectors and headed for Equal's building. He drove down to the parking lots and got off. He swiped his personnel card on the key scanner and entered the building. _Weapons storage is two floors up from here_ , he thought calling for an elevator.

Locus tightened his grip on his rifle. _I'm sorry Equal_ , he thought as he entered the weapons storage main reception. The receptionist greeted him with a courteous smile. "Hello, how may I help you today?"

"I need to sign out Captain Tucker's sword and an assault rifle."

"The rifle we can do, but the sword is under strict lockdown. I will need to ask your reasons for needing it sir," she answered back slightly uncomfortable in Locus' presence. He didn't want to waste his time too much with her, so he replied with what he could at the tip of the hat. "Orders from the top, I am not at liberty to disclose them. My designation is that of an advisor to your boss and the leader of this colony. I have the proper clearance."

"O-Oh, okay then," she replied feeling anxiety in her heart grow at the heavy tone Locus spoke with. She typed a few keys on her computer and brought up Locus' file. "Yes, I see that now. Please wait here while I send someone to retrieve the sword."

Locus stood to the side patiently waiting for the sword to arrive. A station soldier came out minutes later with the sword and a rifle. "Whatever you do, please be careful with them sir."

"I know what I'm doing," Locus shot back causing the young soldier to wince in fear. He took the two weapons and exited the storage section to the prison cells. Walking to the main guard he obtained the keys to Tucker's cell. Quickly walking to the aqua soldier's cell, he inserted the keys inside. Tucker stood up surprised to see Locus again so soon. Tucker stood speechless wondering what was going on. Locus walked close to Tucker who backed away.

"Stay still," Locus commanded walking closer. Tucker shook his head, _fuck that!_ And he ran to the back wall. Locus held him down forcibly proving his dominance in this situation. "Hold still!"

Locus inserted what looked like a key into Tucker's collar. With a snap it came clean off from the prisoner's neck. Tucker sat up slowly studying the collar and rubbing his neck. "Okay…what gives?"

"We are leaving."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'm just trying to do what I believe is the right thing," Locus replied taking the collar with him. Tucker got his weapons and didn't have much room for complaints now. He followed Locus, but had his finger trained on the trigger at all times. As soon as the two stepped outside of the cell, a bright green light blinked with a high pitched alarm noise.

"Shit, what now?!"

"Follow me," Locus answered running to the garbage disposal area. Surely enough, the guards on duty all followed the collar's signal to that area. As soon as Locus reached the trash chute, he threw the collar down there and hid with Tucker. _That should throw them off our trail for some time_. As soon as the coast was clear, the two proceeded to make their way towards the elevator.

Thankfully there was not much resistance along the way. But what little resistance did pop up, Locus dealt with it efficiently. Luckily for the soldiers, Locus' hands showed kindness today as they did not take a life. Running into the elevator, Tucker held the door open for Locus who finished stowing away the unconscious bodies. As he ran inside, Locus had hit the doors close button. Quickly choosing the parking level, they found themselves to be mostly in the clear now.

* * *

The Blood Gulch crew rushed up to the main deck at the sound of the alarms. Sis ran up to a few of the ship operators in a curious panic. "What's happening guys? Are we having a rave party?!"

"Nein!" Muffins replied from behind her. "We are going to battle."

"To what?!" Wash asked feeling his heart jump at the reply. Muffins turned to face all his curious comers and nodded his head. "Ja, we go to battle now!"

"What about observing for more data?" Simmons pointed out. Everyone looked at the Captain for an answer, but he simply shrug his shoulders. "I got bored of waiting, so now I go and kill them."

"Wow, and here I thought Sarge was crazy," Grif commented hearing a grunt and found a shotgun pointed at his head. "Eh heh, you do know I was joking right?"

"Sir, we have finished transferring all data from the surveillance drone."

"Good, give the word to the turret operators to fire at will. We shall cut a hole right through them."

"Wow there, let's not be so harsh," Doc suggested as he got everyone's attention. "Don't forget that we are here to rescue Tucker. I imagine that will be pretty hard to do when the station will be in pieces."

"[I disagree, it's more fun to shoot the station to pieces and watch the blue idiot die.]"

"Lopez, can't you see we are having an important meeting here?" Sarge replied annoyed at the unwelcomed interruption. "This is no time to be cracking jokes."

"[Whatever, I am going to go sabotage a few of the ship's guns now. I'm sure no one will mind that.]"

"Hey Captain Muffins, you have thought of a way to extract Tucker haven't you?" Donut questioned curiously gazing over to the Captain. Muffins stared blankly at the crew for a few minutes. He opened his mouth to speak, and his tone sounded a little unsure. "Sure?"

"Yup, he's fucked," Grif stated earning a hit to the back of his head from Sarge. "Ow, what was that for?"

"Not the time Grif. If we don't have a plan, then we need one."

"Too late, we already fired several missiles," Muffins replied only to see them all stare at him. "What?"

"Captain Muffins, your impatience never ceases to surprise me. But in this case, this is a good thing as the more dead the merrier mwhahahah!" O'Malley spoke with a satisfying feeling that blood was guaranteed.

* * *

The turrets on the station colony's surface opened up and revealed themselves. They interpreted several of the attacking missiles. The other turrets opened fire in the general direction of the UNSC ship. Inside Equal's tower he was informed of the recent attack. "Who would be stupid enough to attack us here? And for that matter, how did they ever get our coordinates?"

"We don't know sir," the soldier replied as he delivered the video feed codes which allowed Equal to connect to the live camera feeds near the station's outer surface. From the damage received on the colony, he could tell that no shots had pierced it. But the surface damage was worrying. It was not caused from missiles but turret fire. _It seems as though their weapons are still quite archaic in comparison to ours, but still very deadly_. Equal called his military generals and ordered for them to retaliate with their latest turret models planted on select few sectors of the station.

The turrets rose to target in the general direction of the ship, Captain Muffins took note and began to dynamically move the ship at random. The turrets opened fire, they fired a bright blue laser with a white interior. Captain Muffins took a tight hold of the bars in from of him as the ship made a hard right. "What in the douche was that?!"

"Clearly our enemy is armed with greater technology," Washington stated pointing out the obvious. He looked to the rest of the crew. "Hold on tight, things will probably get a little bumpy."

"That's putting it lightly," Grif replied rushing for the nearest safety handle. He made sure to keep an eye on Sis who was busy holding onto a couple of guys. _Oh god that slut!_

Their ship fired several missiles and turret bullets. All of them were intercepted by the laser turrets. However the stray missiles that could not be targeted by them managed to make an impact on the surface. One just happened to hit the tower where Equal's tower resided in. He could feel the objects on his desk shake and vibrate from the force.

He reached for his station wide control panel and undid the emergency button. He looked outside at the cars still going about their usual routines, unaware of the danger out in space. _I never thought I would have ever had to use this_. He punched the red button hard and watched every light turn to red inside the colony. Suddenly all of the cars stopped on the freeway as was the protocol. Emergency pathways opened up to shelters and they all rushed to the nearest exit. _So much for a usual day_ , Equal pondered as his trusted group of soldiers entered. Truth looked around the office and motioned for Equal to follow them. "Let's go, we need to get you to a safe zone as well."

"No."

"No?" Justice asked looking to her side at her colleagues in confusion. Pure stepped forward out in front of the other two. "With all due respect Equal, we can't afford to lose you."

"Pure is right," Justice supported that statement and Equal simply shook his head. "I will be right here by my people."

His three colleagues looked at one another both annoyed and admiring his dedication to everyone here. Pure turned around to exit the room. "I will do a round of the building to make sure we are all clear."

"Good idea, I will go stand guard outside," Truth commented following Pure. Justice looked at the door close behind her and asked. "Equal, you don't think that this attack could be because of Captain Tucker, do you?"

"Anything is possible when we don't have facts to put us on a certain track of thinking," he replied walking over to one of the walls and pressing a button. It revealed a secret door connecting to a room. The room stored numerous protective gear. "The time may have come to finally activate my armored suit as well."

Justice walked to his side and stared at the design in awe. It was the very first model they ever created in pursuit of their goals. Though considering the number of years it laid vacant in this room, Justice questioned the integrity of the suit itself. "Is this suit really safe to wear? And will it hold up in combat?"

"Only one way to find out Justice," Equal answered smirking back. Justice crossed her arms at the answer thinking, _I hate it when he decides to improvise_. Equal unlocked the armor case and reached inside for the suit. Putting it on, it was quite sliming, but at the same time he could feel some weight to it. He studied his limbs all covered up by the suit now, the sound of them moving could hardly be heard. "Excellent."

* * *

Locus looked up at the blinking lights all around them. Tucker walked around Locus in a panic back and forth. "What the hell is going on?"

"Enemy attack, but this works well in our favor. Most will have gone to the emergency shelters. This gives us an opportunity to make an escape with the least resistance in our way," Locus explained walking onwards. Both of them stuck to the shadows, and suddenly Sigma materialized between the both of them.

"Gentlemen, if you will please," he said motioning towards the real time map display. Tucker was happy to see that finally Sigma's capabilities could be put to a greater use aside from his failed attempts in the past. "Sweet, time to go stick it to them."

Locus looked at the red dots on the map and thought, _there is too many of them to let Tucker come with me. One screw up and he may alert everyone_. Locus stood up and motioned to a darker area. "You stay there, I will handle this alone."

"Seriously? We are both trying to get out, we are partners for now. I can help you!" Tucker replied agitated at the little respect Locus showed for his skills as a soldier. Locus took Tucker's arm and forced him to the area he pointed at before. "Stay here and stay quiet."

Pure exited the elevator at the lower most level, the prisons level. As soon as he walked out, the first thing he took notice of was the broken cameras. The cameras were missing. He looked around and found no guards either. _Did they all just pack up and leave? What tardiness_. He walked towards Tucker's cell to ensure the high level prisoner was secured. Though a few steps into the hallway Tucker's room resides in, and he could already tell something was amiss. _The door is open?_ Pure walked further down towards it.

He ran towards the open room and studied the inside. As he rested the weight of his body against the door frame he slammed a fist hard against the door. _For god's sake, first the exterior attack and now this_. Pure rushed into the security room and studied the controls. He found the emergency broadcast and swiftly pressed it. "Attention all security personnel, the prisoner brought from Blood Gulch has escaped. If you see him, restrain the escapee at all cost. He will be wearing an aqua colored standard UNSC armor."

Locus looked up at the PA system just as he finished dispatching the second last individual in the hallway. Just as he moved behind the last one, he was quickly met with an unexpected twist. The guard turned around and quickly raised arms. Locus disarmed the soldier but was hit on the head in the process. Tucker rushed out with his sword and jumped for the guard. Stabbing him through the chest, he stood up feeling smug. "Guess you needed my help after all."

Locus simply got up and walked into the garage. _That screw up could have jeopardized everything. I will have to be more careful from now on_. Locus pointed to a free vehicle for Tucker to board. "Sweet, I am so getting the cannon."

Tucker got on the back where a laser powered cannon was mounted. Locus retrieved the keys, but just as he got into the driver's seat, he noticed Pure in the doorway. The two looked at one another for a second before Locus stomped the gas pedal. Pure rushed for a vehicle himself with several soldiers following him.

* * *

Just as Locus and Tucker entered a deserted freeway, they heard several other cars follow them. Tucker looked at Locus expecting a miracle. "Uh dude, we got trouble."

 _That's a light way of putting it_ , Locus pondered as he navigated around some abandoned vehicles. Tucker took aim with the laser cannon. Locus noticed what Tucker was doing in the rear view mirror. "No, wait!"

Tucker opened fire causing an explosion of debris blowing up and raining down. The enemy cars avoided most of it, but one out of the three was taken out. "That was for all the times you tased me bitches!"

Locus let out a very disapproving grunt. Tucker looked back shrugging his shoulders. "What's your deal?"

"You realize we are in a place with limited oxygen?" Locus asked focusing on the road. Tucker looked around and nodded. "Yeah, so what?"

"And you just caused an explosion."

 _Oh…shit_ , Tucker thought and he heard distant yet loud sounds up above. _What is that?_ He wondered as he saw two drones fly down and towards the explosion. They began to douse the flames. Justice stared out the window whispering. "Those maniacs."

Equal walked outside to see the damage and aftermath. "The drones reacted accordingly within acceptable time parameters. We will be fine Justice."

"Don't aim the laser cannon at abandoned vehicles. Use it directly on the enemy," Locus instructed taking a hard right on an intersection. Unlucky for them, the enemy drivers weren't half bad. Tucker found all this shaking to be infuriatingly annoying. "Dude, keep it straight!"

 _Let me get right on that as we are getting shot_ , Locus thought swerving to the right and dodging several turret shots. Tucker aimed the cannon at the second vehicle and opened fire. This time with some help from Sigma, he managed to have one-hundred percent aim accuracy. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!"

"Don't celebrate just yet," Locus said studying Pure's car gaining ground on them. Tucker puffed under his helmet. "Jeez, sorry for trying to lighten the mood."

"I would be inclined to agree with the mercenary Captain Tucker. We are not clear of the danger just yet," Sigma added with Tucker shaking his head at him. "Now don't you get on my case to Sig."

Locus drove off of a ramp to one of the docking station. As soon as he came face to face with the entrance, he saw that it was closed tight thanks to the station wide alert. _What now?_ Locus questioned as he looked for another way inside. Pure was still hot on their heels. Tucker continued to perfect his aim.

"Tucker, send your AI fragment to me."

"You heard him Sig, front and center."

"How may I be of assistance Locus?" Sigma questioned.

"I need you to do a scan of the area. Report any and all entrance points into this ship docking area."

"Right away," Sigma replied and disappeared to run the scans. Within a few seconds he reappeared and formulated a report. "All vehicle entrance points are closed for good. There would be no way for me to hack them if we keep on the move. However certain points can be accessed on foot."

"Uh Locus, they are getting closer," Tucker called out in worry as he kept on missing every shot. Locus quickly did a U-Turn surprising Pure and his comrades. "On my mark, we are bailing this car."

"We are what?"

"We are abandoning this car on the count of three. Be ready to jump."

 _Oh great_ , Tucker thought letting his shoulders drop. Locus did a countdown and upon reaching zero he gave the order to jump. "Jump now!"

"What now? That last car is still out there."

"Take the fragment to a lock protecting the entrance. Leave the car to me."

Tucker quickly scrambled for the nearest entrance to the docks. Locus hid in the shadows running his camouflage unit. He walked out into the streets upon seeing the enemy vehicle drive by. _They should follow the empty car for a while. That will buy me some time_. He bent down and placed a blinking device on the ground. Locus ran into the shadows upon hearing the enemy vehicle turn around and drive back. He held the trigger in his right hand and saw to his left. Just as the vehicle was closing in, he pressed the trigger and the remote mine on the ground exploded.

The enemy car pieces flew everywhere with majority of the car occupants dying in a heartbeat. Only Pure survived the incident, he stood up to recollect himself. He looked all around to see the still bodies. Pure walked over to the closest one and closed his eyes. _May you find peace in death_.

He stood up and walked over to a heavy duty big rail gun. Pure looked all around himself and declared. "Listen well Captain Tucker, you and your ally will not be escaping so easily! You will have to answer for the lives you took!"

"Oh boy, isn't that nice of him to say," Tucker noted sarcastically just as the lock opened. Locus appeared behind him causing him to jump a little. "Dude, I told you not to do that!"

"We have to get a move on."

"Right," Tucker replied following Locus inside. They both ran for the room where many ships were docked.

* * *

Captain Muffins looked to his right at the closest Private and called for him. "Private butt munch, come forth."

"Seriously sir, I have a name you know."

"Give the orders to abandon ship."

"Excuse me?" everyone on deck asked surprised to hear the command. Captain Muffins looked to the panel to his left by his waist line. "We have nearly exhausted all supplies. We were never built to be a warfare ship aside from the purposes of self-defense. So we never carried many combat supplies to begin with."

"But what about you?" Sarge asked.

"Yeah, you don't plan on going down with the ship do you?" asked Simmons.

"And give up my plans for future galaxy conquest in the name of the Reich? Hell no. We will all make it like peg leg cowards for the life boats after we have executed one final order for the ship."

"Just what are you planning to do sir?"

"It's time to take matters into our own hands," Muffins said giving some way for worry in the others. He looked at the space station in front of him with determination. "It is time for some extreme direct measures."


	13. Raiding Party

**Chapter 12: Raiding Party**

Simmons ran behind Sarge and Grif who just jumped into a pelican. The rest of the crew was already seated safely. Wash gave the pilot the green light to launch and fastened in. Carolina felt the jolt of the pelican's sudden launch and looked to her side, she bumped arms with Wash and spoke in a teasing tone. "Think you will need my help again with the jet pack?"

"Very funny Carolina," Wash mused as they launched out into space. They were the only group to launch in a pelican, the rest took the lifeboats. Sarge watched his men struggle against the turbulence and noted. "Be ready boys, it's going to be a tight entry."

"If only Tucker were here to hear you say that," Grif replied with a sigh. Caboose however kept up his spirits. "Don't worry Grif, soon Tucker will be here with us!"

"Yeah, then we can all throw a wicked disco orgy or something," Sis noted rubbing her bottom on the seat. Grif shook his head with disgust. "God you are such a slut."

"I can be whatever I want to be thank you very much!"

"Says the girl who somehow became pregnant from two seals once," Grif argued back causing Sis to whine. "Hey, you said you would never share that story in public!"

"We already knew about that since like ages ago," Donut commented. All they could next hear was Sister having a temper tantrum like a three year old. Their pelican flew past all the gun fire and established contact with Muffins. Wash activated the comms to his left. "Are you safely aboard a lifeboat?"

"Ja, it is a very tight fit…I like it."

"Okay…is the remote activation all good to go?"

"Ja, activate the 'give the enemy their kumupits' button!" Muffins shouted to the person holding the activation remote on the other side of the lifeboat. Everyone sat quietly expecting something, but only silence prevailed. Muffins tapped his foot becoming increasingly impatient. "Who the bloody hell has the remote?!"

"It's me sir," Private butt munch confessed holding it high up in the air. Muffins crossed his arms and shouted. "Then give them their kumupits!"

"Uh…the what?"

"For fuck's sakes man, just press the big red button. You military noobs are no fun," Muffins pouted. The Private pressed the only button on the remote and watched a green light on the top right blink. "Okay, it's good to go."

"Everyone, hang on tight," Wash announced all around the area. Outside, the ship's engine started and propelled it forward towards the station. In Equal's tower, Equal and Justice saw everything taking place. He gripped the edge of his desk in anger. "Those bastards want to risk killing everyone in this station? Blow that ship to smithereens!"

* * *

The station opened fire with all of its heaviest hitters. The pelican stayed behind the ship at a fair distance, remaining both protected and undetected. Justice took a hold of Equal by his arm. "The collision course is close to here, we have to go."

"Fine," Equal conceded leaving the building with Justice and Truth. The three took a vehicle to one of the emergency shelters. Truth looked all around at the empty vehicles. "Kind of feels like one of those zombie apocalypse freeways right now doesn't it? I never thought we would ever have to activate the emergency protocols."

"Take the right here," Justice instructed from behind the turret. Truth steered into the right turn lane and exited the freeway. Equal activated the jeep's communication and established a line with Pure. "What is your status Pure?"

"I'm still in pursuit of the targets. Unfortunately those with me died thanks to the enemy's actions," Pure replied over the static radio. Equal did his best to make out whatever he could of Pure's reply. "Understood, I hope for a fruitful conclusion Pure. I will connect with you again soon."

* * *

Pure looked at the open door to the docking bay he stood by. He walked inside and saw the power restored. _The main power should not be on right now_. He walked past the reception desk and saw the emergency door shutters to either be retracted or smashed. He followed the trail of opened emergency shutters. _From the look of things, these seem to be going towards the ship area_. Pure ran for it as now he had a destination.

Locus pressed several keys in increasing frustration. He let out an audibly irritated sigh. Tucker ran up beside him. "Dude, you have got to chill. Sig, get in there and see what you can do."

"Right away."

"It won't work," Locus replied as he went on to explain further details. "What we need are two activation keys that give us access to the launch sequence. Without those keys, there is nothing we can do."

"You don't know that," Tucker argued throwing up his arms in an attempt to convince Locus to not give up. Locus shook his head in reply. "I do, I have been here long enough to know this."

"It seems that Locus is correct Captain Tucker," Sigma replied materializing besides his host. Just then the three heard a loud bang on one of the doors. Locus quickly collected his weapons and ran down from the control tower. "You closed that door, correct?"

"As best as I could."

 _Why am I not convinced?_ Locus wondered as he ran for a small circular door. He shot off the lock and moved it out of the way. "We are going to use these interconnected tunnels to make our escape."

"Escape where?" Tucker questioned looking all around him. "We can't get off the station so we are screwed."

"No, we can still lead them on a long winded chase. It's better than just folding our arms and giving up."

"I guess," Tucker answered running towards Locus who had already entered the tunnels. Pure burst open the door with the aid of his portable rail gun weapon. He ran inside to see the red emergency lights on, no ships missing and the tunnel gate opened. _At least they haven't completely escaped_. Pure ran up to the control panel and activated the security footage. _I will have to take care of them later_.

Pure brought up the latest footage and saw the two assailants. Upon seeing the footage, he proceeded to immediately contact Equal.

"What is it?"

"I have an ID on the person helping Captain Tucker."

"Who is it?"

"It's Locus."

Equal's mouth dropped open at the name. "Come again?"

"I'm sorry sir, but it was Locus who broke Captain Tucker out of his cell and is helping him escape," Pure could hear a fist smashing against the car on the other side just as he finished with his reply. "Are you alright Eq-"

"Pure, listen to me very carefully," Equal spoke with evident anger in his voice. _What is the meaning of this Locus? Is this really betrayal?_ He pondered as he further instructed Pure. "Kill Captain Tucker, but do not touch the sword. Leave Locus alive, I will go there and have a word with him myself."

"I understand."

* * *

The whole colony shook and the three looked behind them. They could see a surface heating up on the side of the station. And the ship exploded into multiple pieces outside, slowly but effectively piercing through the station. Sarge inside the pelican shouted in a matter of fact tone. "Hah, told you all that explosions solve everything!"

"Say that when we get out of this alive," Doc replied observing the pelican's bay door open. The pilot looked behind them and held out a fist. "Is everyone ready to make the jump? We do this in five."

"You heard him people, get in line and eyes forward," Carolina ordered standing in front of them all. The ship finished piercing through the surface and created a huge hole in the colony. The station reacted by closing down several entry points into this particular section of the station. Only this section depressurized. From the pelican the crew could see a few people being shot out into space.

"Uh, did we just fuck up?" Grif asked feeling a sense of guilt cloud over him just as he watched what he could tell were a mother and a child being excavated into space. Wash shook his head at the orange soldier. "We had no choice."

They all remained quiet at the reply. They all knew that it wasn't entirely true, they always had a choice. It's just that this method is the quickest for them. But they all began to realize the implications of choosing the quick method. The pilot looked behind himself and gave the signal. "Launch now!"

They all exited the pelican and activated their jets. They slowly flew into the colony. Everyone activated their gravity boots as they landed safe and sound into a partially destroyed building. The pilot looked at the crew and gave one final thumb up. "Good luck to you all. We hope to hear some good news soon."

"We will be sure to bring back a souvenir," Sarge joked with a small chuckle. The group made their way down to the main floor. Walking in zero G was extremely punishing for the group. Grif stopped by the main doors of the building and took a heavy puff. "Whoo, okay so blowing up a hole to depressurize a space colony, I'm just going to put this out there that it was not one of our best ideas."

"Get used to it fatass," Simmons answered trudging past everyone else and onto the streets. "Uh so where to now?"

"According to the data Locus provided us with, there should be a series of interconnected tunnels underground that will lead us to the tower Tucker is being held in," Wash explained looking around at the streets. _At least we won't encounter resistance along the way_.

"And where would the entrance happen to be?" Carolina questioned as she checked the ammo in her current magazine. Wash pointed at the road to a sewer entrance.

"Oh no, do you have any idea how long it takes to get the gunk off of this armor?" Donut complained only to see O'Malley pull a rocket launcher out on him. "How do you feel about explosions then?"

"Fine," said Donut walking past everyone and removing the manhole cover. They all turned on their lights and descended down into the damp tunnels. _Ugh, I'm going to stink for a week_ , Grif thought as he heard a fart. "Okay, who was that?"

"Grif did it," Caboose replied in a guilty tone. _Yeah, real smooth Caboose, real smooth_ , Washington thought as he landed down onto flat ground. He looked back and forth and signaled for the others to come down as well. They all stopped upon hearing an unclear noise.

"What was that?" Doc asked only to be quietened by Carolina. She honed her senses in the direction of the noise. "It sounds like…footsteps?"

"Huh, so we may not be alone down here. Keep your fingers on the trigger people," Wash ordered but then looked back quickly. "Uh, that order applies to everyone but Caboose."

"Just to set the record straight, that was not my fault. I was just trying to help them. They just got in the way of my helping."

"Yeah, why don't you go and tell them that Caboose?" Simmons asked sarcastically. Caboose looked away. "You are all just jealous."

"Shh, you idiots are going to give away our position," Sarge said in a low voice. He followed Wash with Lopez behind the group. "[I think we have already given it away thanks to your damn pillow talk.]"

"Shut up Lopez, you will give away our position," Simmons replied in worry at the prospect of fighting a mini army. Lopez felt his CPU overheat with anger. "[OH REALLY?! SO WHEN YOU IDIOTS TALK IT'S FINE, BUT I SAY ONE FUCKING THING AND-]"

Everyone found several guns trained on them from the front. Lopez just remained quiet. He had no words for this. He shook his head thinking, _what did I do wrong in this life to deserve this?_ Grif was irritated behind the visor. "Great going Lopez."

"[Fuck you gold boy.]"

* * *

The enemy soldiers observed the comedy like it was prime time television time. They all looked at one another wondering, _so should we be doing something like shooting?_ Most of them shook their heads wanting to see what comes next in the idiot quarrel. The Blood Gulch crew pointed their guns at the enemy and opened fire. Everyone scrambled for the nearest piece of cover. Grif found the extra baggage in the form of his sister to be annoying. _Great, now I have to babysit her just like I had to when we were kids_. He looked to his side and saw she was missing. "Oh that's just great, where the hell did she go to?!"

"Hey assholes, stop firing!" Sis shouted walking out in the middle of the battlefield. They all looked at her questioning her IQ. Sis was satisfied at the sudden peace. "Now keep it down, some of us are trying to listen to some music."

"What kind of music?" one of the enemy soldiers asked.

"Metal rock for life!"

"Good god that is the worst kind of music!" the enemy commander shouted in clear disgust at her musical choices. "Boys, we must cleanse her to eradicate yet another metal rock twat!"

"But isn't that a little too harsh? Killing someone because you don't agree with their taste in music?" Donut argued and the enemy soldiers agreed. The enemy commander stomped his foot on the ground in absolution. "You don't understand, their kind spreads like an infection killing the value of good music. That and also I have been orders to kill you all. So please stand out in the open like this yellow dunce so we may proceed with the executions."

"Fuck you!" shouted Grif.

"Oh yea, well I'm straight so the joke's on you!" the enemy commander replied feeling very intelligent before realizing. "Oh that's not what you meant. Now I feel very depressed, my life is not worth living."

"Well that turned dark quickly," Simmons said looking all around the room. They all agreed seeing the enemy commander break down into tears. Sis walked on over to him and gave him a good slapping she did. "You call yourself a man? Keep it together!"

"But he cursed at me!" the commander replied throwing a baby temper tantrum. Wash nearly dropped his rifle at the sight. _This…this is our enemy? Maybe we are not the only ones with loonies on our side_. The enemy soldiers pushed Sis back, and Grif came out from behind cover to protect her. "Back off!"

"No you back off!"

"No you do it first!"

"That's it!" the enemy soldier replied fed up with the nonsensical arguments. He raised his gun at him followed by his comrades. "Time to settle this with our guns!"

Carolina, Wash and Freckles quickly shot them all dead.

"Case settled," Wash replied walking over to the enemy commander. He lifted the man up to his feet and pushed him hard against a wall. "How many more troops are down here?"

"I don't know, maybe five more squads."

"That would make about twenty-five people in total," Carolina calculated as she checked the dead soldiers. She retrieved as much ammunition she could and passed it around. Wash knocked the commander out and reloaded his pistol. "Sadly you would be right."

* * *

"So uh…tell me that you heard the gun fire," Tucker asked slowly squeezing through a tight gap. Locus looked to his left from the direction the noises echoed. "I did."

"Oh good, at least I'm not going crazy."

"It sounded close."

"Thanks for telling me that bit," Tucker said with his spirit dropping low. _For once why can't things go smoothly?!_ Tucker pushed a door open as Locus guarded the way they just came from. The three entered the new pathway and did their best to navigate the tunnels.

Pure was close constantly tracking them down around every corner. But he soon became distracted by the gunfire. _Faulty fire or more enemies?_ He wondered activating his communications.

"Go ahead Pure," Equal replied to the communication request. Pure looked back to his right and proceeded to follow the echo. "It seems as though we may have more enemies on board the station. I am presently going to chase them down. I will take care of Locus and Captain Tucker later."

"Understood, do be careful."

"Hmph, I don't plan on dying here today Equal," Pure replied cutting the link. "Time for a hunt."

* * *

Several minutes later, the Blood Gulch crew made it past the third squad they came across.

"They are all coming in waves," O'Malley stated firing at the last soldier of the squad. Grif smirked and noted. "Yeah, coming in waves like idiots in our line of sight."

"Stay alert," Wash reminded the group as he looked all around. _Okay, no injuries yet, and no accidental team kills. So far it is looking good_. But he stopped in his tracks to see a blue light illuminate through the tunnels in front of them. Simmons looked at Sarge with his feet trembling. "Uh Sarge, what do we do?"

"Men, this is a perfect set up for an ambush."

"I agree, unless we are about to be fucked over by more than a few soldiers," Simmons replied holding his gun tightly. _Rifle, you are my only best friend so please don't abandon me now!_

They all saw a big gun emerge into their view. Following the gun was a well built man whose face was concealed inside his unique and different armor. He looked at the huge group of enemy soldiers and sighed. "You all should not be here, where did you come from?"

He received no response. He readied his gun in and aimed to open fire. "Talk or I shoot."

Everyone quickly ran for cover leaving Pure standing out in the open on his own. He looked all around and cracked his knuckles. He stretched his neck and felt the tension relieve in the muscles. He walked forward again looking all around. "Come out, come out to play. It is cleansing time."


	14. Cleansing Time

**Chapter 13: Cleansing Time**

Pure raised his gun and aimed it at the different tunnels in front of him. "Come out!"

"Fuck you!" Grif shouted from one of the tunnels. Simmons bashed him over the head. "Ow, what was that for Simmons?"

"Real smooth jackass, shout and give away our position. Pray tell what the next step is of your master plan."

Grif held out a middle finger to his fellow red soldier. Pure chuckled under his helmet. _Not a very smart bunch now are you?_ He pondered aiming the rail gun down the tunnel the voice came from. He opened fire causing a cave in. Simmons, Grif, Sarge and Sis fell back at the sudden shaking. The tunnel in front of them collapsed. Sarge stood up still feeling weakened by the fall. "Donut, are you alright on your end?"

"Yeah Sarge, but we got separated from Carolina and Washington."

"You what?!"

"They told us to go on ahead, and that they will catch up after taking care of that big mean guy."

"Sir, are they even in a fighting condition right now?" Simmons asked helping others up. Doc took the liberty of replying to that one. "Well, if they aren't, more work for me later on I guess."

"If there is a later on," Grif noted earning a slap to the back of his head by Simmons. "That's no way to be optimistic!"

"Either way, we need to regroup," Sarge suggested as Theta popped up beside him. The little fragment pointed to the map beside him. "Check it out Sarge, we can use the map Locus gave us before to get out of here."

"That's a start," Sarge noted as Delta did the same on Caboose's side. Delta studied the various intersecting points and decided on the best meet up area. "We will reconnect at point C-52."

"Okay, marking the point now!" said Theta energetic as ever. He rolled around the map on his skateboard and drew a red blip on it. The others looked at the map and their distance from it. Grif let out a tired sigh. "Great, I always said I would go for a long walk someday to get active. I guess today is that day."

"You will probably have us carry you there by the time we reach halfway point," Simmons mused following Sarge. Sis giggled causing Simmons to suddenly stroke out. Grif shook his head and bumped shoulders with him. "Trust me dude, you do not want her getting all googly over you. It's not as flattering as it may sound."

"Oh yea, well you are not as flattering as you sound!" Sis shouted unsure of her own words. _Good to see the stupidity runs deep in the family_ , Simmons thought studying the bickering siblings.

* * *

Carolina and Washington used whatever shadows they could as their cover to get in close. Pure stood still with his head low. His eyes were closed and hearing more focused. Pure let the gun hang to one side as he took in a deep breath, he heard every trickle of the water nearby, and every minor sound in the area. Carolina took out a small knife and positioned herself perfectly behind Pure. She jumped out from the shadows and aimed for his back. But unexpectedly Pure turned around and hit her hard in the face with the butt of his gun. Washington jumped out from behind Pure and wrestled against his monstrous strength. "Carolina, some help would be good about now. I can't hold him down forever."

"I know!" she shouted picking herself up. She could feel a strange tingle in the back of her head. But she didn't have too much time to worry about that now. Carolina ran up from Pure's blind side and swung her knife for his right armpit. But as soon as the blade made contact with the suit, it simply bounced off. _What the?_ She looked at the blade and back at Pure. _This blade isn't dull, what gives?_

Pure threw Washington off of him towards the wall. With a loud thud the grey soldier fell down to his side. "Ugh, that went well."

Carolina prepared herself for another attack and rushed up behind him. Her swing was quickly blocked by Pure who took a hold of her arms. To him, in his hands they were nothing more than twigs. He applied pressure onto her wrist and caused her grip to loosen on the knife. He watched the blade fall and kicked it far away. Pure kicked Carolina away in the abdomen causing her to cough in pain. Wash rushed to her side and helped her up. "Are you okay?"

Pure walked over to his gun and put it to the side. He studied the various weapons on the ground of the freelancers no doubt scuttled from the earlier scuffle. He took them all and threw them past the small opening the in the debris he created earlier. Carolina leaned on Wash for support and gratefully nodded at him. "I'm fine, but we have a problem."

"Let me guess, his armor?"

"Yeah, his armor seems to be made of some special material."

"The materials Locus mentioned the planet close by was being excavated for could have something to do with it."

"Are you two done with your secret planning? Shall we finally proceed with our fight?" Pure asked holding out his arms in a very suggestive gesture. Wash held Carolina back, _he wants us to take the bait_. "Remember Carolina, teamwork."

"I know," she said in response. Both of them stood up strong against Pure, The two freelancers stared down Pure in a psychological battle, but they found that their opponent was far stronger than any other adversary they had faced. An enemy that would not be moved so easily psychologically, their once overpowering aura held no effect on this enemy soldier. Wash and Carolina looked at one another shrugging their shoulders.

"Do you two plan to stand around all day or actually do something? I don't mind killing you where you stand if you have already chosen to surrender," Pure echoed edging closer. Wash and Carolina nodded to one another as Carolina gave out certain hand signals. The two freelancers rushed towards Pure and jumped over his head. They landed behind him and dealt a strong elbow to his back. Pure was shaken off balance as he nearly fell forward. Wash smirked under his helmet thinking, _at least you are not made out of stone_. Carolina delivered a strong kick to Pure's right side of his abdomen and everyone could hear an uncomfortable crunch of their contact.

"Looks like you are not so tough after all," Carolina boasted walking closer to Pure who was on his knees. He slowly eased the pain through deep breaths and looked up at the female freelancer. He grinned under his helmet and quickly stood up taking a hold of her by her neck. "But I am tougher than you I reckon."

* * *

Tucker stopped to look behind him. Locus noticed his partner's actions and looked in the direction Tucker was looking at. "What is it?"

"I think that guy stopped following us."

"I believe so," Locus said turning around. "That gun fire earlier may have bought us some time."

Tucker continued to follow Locus and came across a similar door to the one they entered this network of tunnels from. Locus pushed hard against it, slowly he slid it open and stuck out his head for a quick peek. He motioned for Tucker to follow and the two made their way forward. Unbeknownst to them, the moment they stepped through that door, they triggered a silent alarm set up in advance as per Equal's orders.

Equal stared down at his pad that blinked with a notification. Truth and Justice kept guard both forward and backward in the tunnels they transverse. Equal contacted the nearest squadrons and their leaders. "Listen well men, we have two very dangerous enemies running around on the station. It seems as if they have exited the sewer tunnels via door C-87. It is quite close to your location. I need you all to apprehend these subjects, shoot only to pacify, not to kill."

"Yes sir!"

Truth looked behind him questioning. "You know Equal, there are loads of times where I just don't understand your logic. Why leave them alive?"

Justice eagerly waited for an answer as she too wanted to see Locus' blood as much as the others. They trusted him, Equal trusted him more so than the others and that trust was so easily broken. "I just…I guess I want to know why Locus did what he did."

"You can't let your feelings cloud your judgement," Justice advised pointing her gun back behind them. The three came across an exit door that led into the next section of the colony. Truth pushed hard against it and opened it wide. Equal stopped to look around at the bustling cityscape. He stopped for a moment to let his two colleagues rest a while. "I know I can't let feelings cloud my judgement. But this, this is too important to so easily order an execution over."

"Is he really worth that much?" Truth asked looking around at the little bows and looks of respect they received from the colony's inhabitants. Equal sat down beside Truth and nodded his head. "For me he is. I know I should have him killed on sight, but the things we have been through, the atrocities we have seen in war together…I can't just forget those times. To me, he became like a brother, a precious bond forged through war. But make no mistake, he will pay for this treason with his life. That will only be after he answers my questions however."

"For your sake Equal," Justice said getting their attention. "For your sake I hope he is willing to talk."

Equal looked away to the crowded streets deep in thought. _Yeah, me to…me to_.

* * *

Carolina swung wide and hit him with the back side of her right fist. She quickly followed up with a fast and strong punch to the jaw with her left fist. Pure grunted at her efforts only to find Washington jumping out from behind her. He used her shoulders as a momentum point to add more force and he delivered a hard blow to Pure's abdomen. Wash stood up catching his breath and grinned. "Heh heh, not so tough now are you?"

Pure cracked his neck and looked up at his two adversaries. _Down here they have the advantage thanks to this being two against one, but up there you will find we are on equal footing_. Pure ran for them both. He tackled Wash and held him up as a shield. Pure managed to push Carolina out of the way and threw Wash to the other side. He quickly reached for his rail gun and fired off a strong shot on the ceiling.

"Crazy bastard, do you plan to bury us all?!" Wash questioned running for cover. But that was not the case, no something far worse was to come. As the ceiling crumbled with every new crack, the air began to escape. The two freelancers looked at one another and activated their air modules. Suddenly the whole area depressurized and flung them out into the streets in the zero-G environment. Pure remained in the tunnels watching the two wail about and waited for his opportunity.

Carolina did her best to avoid the floating objects. Washington however had a much harder time. He narrowly dodged sharp building debris and turned around to find a car quickly closing distance. _Why does it always have to be the cars?_ Wash wondered shouting a warning. "Caaaaarrr!"

 _Now!_ Pure decided activating the various jets on his suit and flying up in great speeds. He gripped Carolina by the neck in between his bicep and forearm. He gripped Washington with the other and flew them both out into space. They all struggled for a moment to get their orientation sorted out. Though Pure seemed to be quicker than the other two.

Pure activated the pressure jets that allowed him to control his momentum and direction with short bursts of pressurized air and landed back down onto the station's surface. His armor began to glisten with the sun's rays. It was near to the point of being blindingly bright. Carolina took a hold of Wash and before they could drift any further, she activated her jets and inched in closer to Pure. They both landed safely aboard the station's surface, but felt the zero-G affect their movements quite greatly.

Pure planted his gun on the surface, he secured it by stabbing it through the surface and ensuring it was in a tight spot. He slowly walked forward keeping a tight gaze on the freelancers and motioned all around. With determination he spoke. "Where as you two fight as allies, the space shall be my ally in this fight."


	15. Rescue

**Chapter 14: Rescue**

Sarge looked behind him at the progress the others were making with the lock at their exit door. Simmons did his best to hack the door, but he had never seen this type of lock before. Gamma pixilated beside Grif and offered his help.

"It's better than nothing at this point," Simmons conceded and Grif motioned for Gamma to do his thing. "You heard him Microsoft Sam, front and center."

Gamma quickly entered the digital lock via certain pathways and analyzed the lock and his options. He pixilated besides Grif and concluded the following. "This will take some time, hacking locks has always been Delta's domain."

"Oh well I wouldn't say we are in too much of a hurry," Sarge noted studying how quiet it was in the tunnels. The only thing he could hear was a bunch of jabbering idiots. Theta suddenly appeared besides Sarge painting out the tunnel map for him. "Check it out Sarge, the others are close by now."

"Wait a go little guy," Sarge said motioning for others to keep a sharp eye out. Sis looked curiously at Theta which made him quite nervous. "What?"

"So when did you guys get glowing talking light bulbs?" she asked.

"Long story," Simmons replied standing guard. She looked at them all and begged for them to tell her sometime. Sarge immediately shot down the idea. "Yeah, I don't think that will happen."

"Then, where can I get me one of those?"

"By standing in that corner and keeping your mouth shut. Also by doing whatever I tell you to do from now on for the rest of your life and never embarrassing the family name again," Grif replied seeing an opportunity. Just as he expected, being the dunce she can be she agreed. "You are so on! I can't wait to get one, I will name him Dolfy."

Simmons watched Sis walk off into a corner and turned back to Grif. "Smooth, I can't wait to see how you explain to her that she can't have one in the end."

"Who said anything about coming clean with her? Let her live her fantasy, it's easier this way on us all."

"That's a little harsh," Sarge noted. "Especially considering how she is your sister."

"And I am the older one, which means she will believe anything I say as her older sibling."

"Wait, really?" Simmons questioned earning a very confident nod. "Yeah, when I was five, I told her that the dentists are the root of all pain and evil in the world. I even said that he will forcibly and painfully pull out your wisdom teeth which will make you go stupid. And she ate that shit up believing every word of it. After that she never went to the dentist."

"You know, for some reason I can't quite argue against that," Simmons replied seeing the stupidity at work. Sis stood in the corner still excited to receive her own custom light bulb someday.

* * *

Lopez stopped to look behind him and found Doc and Donut to be falling behind. "[Pick up the pace you lazy humans, we need to meet up with the other idiots in a timely manner.]"

"You are right Lopez, I would love some nacho burritos right about now," Donut replied feeling his stomach gurgle. Doc shook his head. "Donut, you can eat later."

They all stopped at hearing a few noises. Doc panicked and hid behind some rubble. "Oh holy crap, what was that?!"

"[Stay here, I will check it out.]"

"Lopez now is not the time to make fun of him for being scared," Donut scolded to which Lopez just turned around to walk away. "Man, I wonder what's his deal?"

Lopez walked ever so slowly to lessen his own noises. Analysing the various noises around, he used his noise analyzer to capture and study the noises. They were from several footsteps, but they were not in the direction of the rest of the crew. Lopez stopped for a moment to consider his options, but knowing his luck he would just be blown over by the others. He decided to proceed on his own. With his rifle raised up in front of him, he cautiously walked through the tunnel.

Lopez activated his heat vision to find several hostiles pop up in view. In total there were ten. _Oh great, hopefully I don't lose my head over this_. He quickly hid in the shadows and saw them all approaching in formation. Lopez waited for a good opportunity as he watched them go by. As soon as the last one was past him, Lopez stepped out and opened fire. He hit several of the targets with perfect accuracy and again hid in the shadows.

"What the hell?!" he heard several of the soldiers shout. They were all in disarray. _Looks like I'm not the only one working with idiots_ , Lopez computed as he watched many of the soldiers slowly but surely gain their composure. They all took cover behind various pillars and stuck their rifles out to scan the area with.

Lopez minimized his heat producing features as best as he could to avoid detection via the thermal scanners in the enemy guns. Only four soldiers remained and they all played it cautiously, not that it helped them thanks to Lopez's heat vision. He saw all of them communicating with one another through hand signals. Some of them were unfamiliar to him, but he instantly decoded the ones that were the military standard.

As soon as Lopez was confident that they stopped scanning, he began moving. Their scans however must have borne some fruit as they kept their guns pointed in his general direction. He managed to get behind two and quickly took them out by slamming their heads together. The other two looked in the way of the noise and quickly let out short and controlled bursts of fire. Lopez made a break for it, and now he was in their sights. They closed in slowly, and Lopez took the closest one by the neck and held him hostage. This action however was short lived as the other soldier took off Lopez's head with a well placed shot.

 _Oh for fuck's sakes! I said I didn't want to lose my head over this!_ Lopez angrily pondered watching his body fall. The soldier in his grip got up catching his breath. He was helped up by his comrade who inquired about his condition. Lopez watched his body's foot twitch. _Oh wait, that's right_. The body suddenly stood up and held out its arms like a zombie for the two soldiers. The two soldiers froze in their spots dropping their guns. "Uh Jim, isn't that the body of the bloke we just shot?"

"Why yes it is Bob, erm did he come back from the dead?"

"Maybe Jim, maybe. We should probably run for it."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Also, newsflash, I maybe a little slow."

"Why would you say such a thing in this situation Jim?!"

"Because I peed myself at this headless demon," Jim replied squeezing his legs together as he hopped his way away with Bob. Lopez's body walked over to the head and re-attached it. "[Morons.]"

He picked up his rifle and walked back to where he left the others. He found that they were already regrouped with the others over the radio. With a tired sigh he ran their way. _No one tell Lopez anything, he doesn't need to know. Maybe I should poison their next meals when they aren't looking_.

* * *

"Stab!" Tucker shouted piercing his sword through a helpless soldier's gun. That enemy soldier was the last of many who were so easily dispatched of by Locus. Tucker took the credit for taking out a few himself. He walked closer to the helpless soldier who tried to run away, but he was quickly knocked back down by Tucker. Locus held the soldier by his neck and stared him down. "How many more are there in the area?"

"A-about twenty more," the soldier replied shivering all over. Tucker looked to Sigma who verified the value. It was correct. Locus knocked the soldier out and moved on. The three looked at the real-time mini-map and agreed to take individual routes. Locus ran his camouflage unit and went into the next area from the left. Tucker looked to Sigma, who indicated his readiness and they walked to the right.

Locus snuck up behind many and knocked them unconscious. Even though he would prefer to kill them to neutralize a potential threat in the future, he understood that these soldiers did only what was told to them. Their understanding was extremely limited. They did not understand the things he knew because in truth they were never told about it. Locus only knew thanks to his resourcefulness and initiative to discover.

No doubt Tucker also had an effect on this decision as Tucker was strongly opposed to Locus killing upon their escape. Locus cleared his mind keeping his head on the task. He looked to find only three more on this side of the area. The right side however was a different story as Tucker found it difficult to get around. He saw the ten soldiers all patrolling the area in random patterns. _Why can't you all just move on a fixed path like the stupid AI in stealth video games?_ He wondered going into hiding again. He kept a keen eye out for an opportunity and one presented itself to him.

Tucker walked out keeping his head low. _Crab walk crab walk please do not notice the crab walk_ , Tucker thought nervously as he just barely avoided bumping into a soldier to his side. He was nearly in the clear, but then the unthinkable happened. Tucker ended up giving away his position, everyone looked his way and he stood up still. _Of all the things to give me away, it had to be some shit on the ground_. He looked around and let out a small nervous laugh. "Heh, can I get a rain check on this gunfight guys?"

They all pointed their guns up at him causing him to break out into a sprint. _Guess that's a no then_. He ran to his right and into cover just as the gunfire started. _Oh fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!_

"Done very shrewdly," Sigma said with a smirk. Tucker looked at the flaming fragment with a disapproving shake. "I don't need that type of sarcasm from you Sig. Now help me out here."

"Give me some time and I can hack open the vent door behind you."

"You will get your time, just do it."

Locus suddenly descended from the ceiling and killed two soldiers via his sword and knife. Tucker stood up cheering in excitement. "Oh yeah, totally like an assassin!"

Locus hid behind cover and took out his rifle. "Keep your head down."

Locus took a deep breath and quickly swung out of cover and shot five in the forehead. Only three remained now. Tucker proceeded to provide additional fire and managed to shoot one of the soldiers in the arm. The target however was not incapacitated, they continued to fight back. _Hmm…maybe I should have gone for more training back in Blood Gulch when Wash told us to_. Tucker stuck his head out and took a clean shot for the enemy's head. _Score!_

Just as he ducked back down, he heard the vent door click open behind him. He motioned for Locus to follow who saw Tucker jump into the vent. Locus ran out shooting his rifle and he managed to kill one of the enemy soldiers. As soon as he jumped in, the last one came out of their cover and looked at the open vent cover. He let his weapon hang to the side as he quickly dialed for the correct frequency to communicate with the boss on. "Sir, they came by here."

Equal held up the pad to his side. "What happened?"

"T-they managed to escape. I think I'm the only one left alive. They used the vents to escape."

"I see, give the order to flood them then."

"Are you sure sir? I mean flooding the vent could end up bringing some of our colony functions to a halt."

"Stopping them is more important. The damage we do is minor in comparison to what they have done. We can always repair the minor damage, the major damage they have caused and could continue to cause will take longer to heal from," Equal replied with a stern and just tone. The soldier understood and called his own higher ups to relay the orders.

Truth looked to his side and asked. "Didn't you want to talk to Locus? That's going to be hard to do when he is dead."

"He won't die, not from something like this."

* * *

Sarge led the others as they escaped onto the streets. He stopped them from entering the main street. _Gotta keep a low profile_ , he thought looking around at other ways of exit. _Breaking off into small squads will just mess everything up. Plus, Grif can't be trusted to take care of anything_ , Sarge pondered all the ways Grif may jeopardize the safety of the others. Although thinking of all the ways he could punish the orange soldier afterwards was quite amusing.

"May I make a suggestion sir?" Simmons asked getting the go ahead from Sarge. "How about we stick to the back alleys? That way we don't come across many people who clearly have a dislike for the UNSC, and we can move about the city."

"That is an excellent suggestions Simmons, I say we do that. But we make sure to throw out Grif in the main street first."

"You just want to see my balls getting busted like fifty times out there don't you?" Grif asked with his head low. This was what his position on the red team had been reduced to, the guy who was known for getting the crap beaten out of his balls on repeated occasions. Sarge let out a small chuckle at the image, _Agent Tex, you have spoiled me well_.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Sis asked getting silence all around. Simmons looked at her and asked. "I don't hear anything, what are you hearing?"

"I don't know, it sounds like water."

Everyone looked at Grif, the resident Sis translator for those moments she didn't make much sense. And sadly those moments were in abundance. Grif looked at everyone and shrugged his shoulders. "Don't look at me. I don't know what the fuck she is talking about."

"Grif, you have one job and that is to translate for Sis. You can't even do that, I know I said I was past the point of disappointment, but this…why do we even keep you on the team?!" Sarge asked in an outrage. Grif held up a hand to stop Sarge and asked. "I thought my one job was to bring in extra ammo into battle."

"I gave that job to Lopez, he brings it in everytime unlike you."

"Oh well less lifting for me then."

They all heard a splash suddenly and saw some water shoot out of a vent a couple of streets down. Inside the vent they could all hear a familiar voice shouting. "Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!"

"Gentlemen, I have successfully opened the fifth vent down from here," Sigma noted as both Locus and Tucker ran for their lives. Tucker nodded his head waving to Sigma. "Great job Sig, now we just gotta hope we don't get all wet, and that's not even in the good way, bow-chicka-bow-wow!"

The crew found two familiar faces suddenly pop out from the vent. Doc and Donut went to help them out, but Sarge, Grif and Simmons had their guns trained on Locus at all times. Behind them they saw a sudden stream of water rush by. _I guess her hearing isn't all that deranged_ , Simmons thought. Caboose rushed forward with his arms wide open and a crackling voice nearly to the point of crying. "Tucker! I knew we would see you again. Let me show you how much I missed you by us groping one another."

Tucker stood back from Caboose's reach letting out a disgusted shout. "Ew, stay away!"

"Its fine Tucker, I made sure to take a shower and clean my armor beforehand."

"Someone please get this moron away from me," Tucker said looking all around. They didn't know it, but underneath his helmet he was grinning like a five year old. _Man, I really needed to see your guys' faces again_. He turned to see Sis thrown into the mix and came up to her. "When did you come back?"

"I got transferred back, so big bro decided to take me along on this field trip."

Tucker looked at Grif and laughed. "Looks like someone does really care about their sister."

"Tell anyone else about this and I will kill you in your sleep," Grif threatened shaking Tucker by the neck. Tucker shoved the orange soldier off of himself. "Jeez fine, talk about a sour puss."

"We need to move," Locus announced breaking up the little group moment. Sarge turned to the mercenary raising his shotgun. "And what do you mean by _we_?"

"Wow, calm down Sarge. It's all good for now," Tucker intervened trying to get the older man to lower his weapon. But Tucker was pulled aside by Simmons who told him to let Sarge handle this. Locus let out an irritated sigh thinking, _we don't have time for this now_. He looked at Sarge who had his trigger finger trained on his shotgun at all times.

"I'm trying to help you all escape. I helped Captain Tucker escape did I not? I'm also the one most familiarized with the space station in this group."

Simmons again didn't want to agree with Locus but he was correct on that point. Sarge lowered the shotgun and motioned for Locus to lead the way with a warning. "Remember, you try anything and my finger may just slip."

"Do I really make you that uncomfortable Colonel?"

"You certainly do have a habit of giving me an itchy trigger finger for what it's worth."

* * *

The whole group went onwards staying off of the main streets and keeping a low profile. They came across several enemy soldiers, but they were able to quickly dispatch of them by working together.

Even the fragments pitched in with Eta and Iota constantly either jamming guns or lowering accuracy. Theta helped with adjusting the aims of various shots by Sarge's shotgun. Gamma would sometimes impersonate various enemy soldiers to help clear the way for the group. Omega helped bring out Doc's inner rage with O'Malley and easily held their own in the fight.

Delta helped provide a real time display of the map and their progress. He also routinely aided the crew with various locks. Sigma dedicated his subroutines to coming up with combat tactics to offer the most efficient results. Freckles however was nailing his targets dead on the most out of everyone else.

The whole crew ran up to their destination building. Locus entered his pass code to the doors, but they were rejected. _They have already disabled my access_ , Locus thought looking around for another way in. Delta decided to take a crack at the algorithms, and with ease he decoded them all. "What a peculiar design, yet at the same time so surprisingly simple."

The door slid open and the whole group entered. Grif looked all around as they kept their heads low in the hopes no one would notice their armor. "Where are we?"

"We are inside a junction building that connects sector C of this station to sector D. There should be a dock around here as well. We can take a ship and escape," Locus explained looking at the directional arrows. Simmons looked all around asking. "What about Carolina and Wash? We still need to get them."

"We can take care of it on the way out," Sarge suggested. Tucker looked around and asked of how they got into the station in the first place. Upon hearing of the enemy's description they were fighting in the tunnels, Locus' let out a worried sigh. Sarge looked back at the reserved mercenary and asked what concerned him. "Your description matched that of a high profile soldier here named Pure. If they are fighting him, I don't know if they will be able to win."

"They will be fine," Simmons said in retaliation. Sarge nodded at Simmons and said. "Yeah, we just have to have faith in them."

* * *

Inside the security room of the building, a silent alarm triggered causing the guards to find out the source. They saw the Blood Gulch crew, and upon knowing their orders they quickly contacted Equal. "Sir, they are here in the joint junction building for Sector C and D."

"Send all of your men after them. Show them no mercy, have them all killed except for Locus."

"Yes sir," the guards confirmed the orders as they called in all of their comrades on radio. Equal stared at the static screen on the tablet and cut out communications. Justice held his shoulder and asked for him to rest. He shook off her concern, but she would not give up so easily. "Please Equal, you are probably the most stressed out of all of us right now."

"She is right man," Truth added marking their location on a digital map display. "You will be no good to us stressed out."

Justice held Equal down by his shoulders. He gently grasped her hands and slid them off. He looked at the two and gave a smile most pure that they had not seen in a long while on his face. "Thank you for your concern. I appreciate it, but right now ensuring the safety all those on this station comes first. We can worry about ourselves after that."

Justice held her hands behind her willing to trust Equal in his words as always. She could feel her heart grow slightly heavy, not with anxiety or worry, but with reassurance that they were all fighting together in this struggle. She slowly bumped shoulders with Equal and smiled his way. "We will all fight together then. No matter what happens, we will fight as one."


	16. Your Defeat is my Victory

**Chapter 15: Your Defeat is my Victory**

Carolina slowly walked towards Pure who stood ready. Wash struggled with the space environment as well. _It has been a long while since I was thrown out in space like this_. He did his best to keep his balance, but he would easily topple over to one side or the other. Carolina balled her hands into fists and raised them up in front of her.

"You will find that fighting in space is much more different than down below," Pure warned standing completely still. Carolina could feel some disorientation still, especially thanks to her recent movements. She shook it away as best as she could stating. "I know from experience."

"Do you now? Then let's test that," Pure suggested slowly walking forwards towards Carolina. She swung her fist but found it traveled at a very low speed. Pure however easily avoided it. _What's going on?_ Carolina wondered looking at the big man. _He shouldn't have been able to dodge that if he was walking at the same slow speed as me. Unless those short bursts of air from before help him control his movements in space. In that case this will prove to be challenging, but not impossible_. Pure crossed his arms and waited for her to grasp at the situation. "Do you understand yet?"

"Understand what?" she inquired gritting her teeth. _I will not be outdone by you_. Pure motioned all around himself and said. "Space is my domain. You two maybe good, and you may have fought in space before but I understand fighting in space the best out of us all here. Even if you try, mark my words that you will lose. Death is the only way can you ever repay for the damages you have caused us and our people."

Washington just caught up to the two and swung his two arms in closed to Pure's chest. Pure quickly dodged it and gripped Wash's abdomen, he arched over backwards and hit Wash's head hard on the stations' surface.

"Wash!" Carolina shouted in worry as he began to float away. However Wash was quick on the recovery and jet boosted his way back to the surface. "Ugh, my bad. Okay, so you are a tough cookie."

* * *

Carolina and Wash looked and one another and nodded, they both were thinking the same thing. "Sync?"

"Sync!" Wash shouted trudging through the zero-G. Carolina jumped up, but used her jets to maintain control and swung her arm wide for Pure. The big man easily avoided it but then saw Washington using Carolina's back as a boost point for his jet. Wash rammed Pure in the stomach. He could hear his enemy gurgle a bit in both surprise and pain. _Not so tough now are you?_ Wash wondered as he landed back down onto the surface. Pure stood still holding his stomach tightly. He studied his oxygen levels and thought, _I'm going to have to end this quickly now_.

"Space is not just your ally," Carolina pointed out as she motioned at Pure's stomach. He had to admit that they had a point, but he had the upper hand still. "That maybe so, but I won't let you walk free after what you did to our people."

"Don't try to paint us as the bad guys when it's clearly you guys that are in the wrong," Wash shouted angrily restraining himself. He knew anger would not help him here. It would only lessen his control and increase his chances of drifting away.

"We saw the data on what you have all been doing down on that planet," Carolina agreed pointing down to the planet close by to the station.. "On top of that, you want to wage a war that would involve several innocent soldiers who have no idea about the incident that took place on that planet."

"Our war will kill uneducated soldiers, but your actions today have done no less," Pure announced walking closer. With every inch he lessened in their distance, the more anger he felt rise. Carolina raised her fists at him and asked. "What do you mean?"

"How many people have you killed in your military careers? Too many to count I'm guessing. And today you just added to that count. When you thought it was a good idea to crash your ship into our station, you not only made Sector-D uninhabitable but also caused many of our civilians to be ejected into space. Those civilians, they weren't wearing a space suit, think about that."

Wash stopped in his tracks and looked out into space. _The people I saw ejecting into space before, they were civilians?_ Wash wondered feeling a severe sense of guilt suddenly arise. Carolina felt her spirits fall, but she had a fight to keep her head in. "Wash, stay with me."

"A- I'm good," he replied taking a moment to clear his head of the self-doubting thoughts. _I can worry about that later. Right now you are an obstacle_. Pure shook his head as he braced himself to launch towards the two. _This is why ignorant people will never truly understand the pain we have been through and our plight in this justified cause_. Pure launched towards the two and hit them on the forehead with his biceps. He kicked Carolina in the back of her legs. His kick was strong enough to cause her to lose all friction in her gravity boots. He elbowed her down and picked up Wash by the neck.

Wash struggled against Pure's grip who continued to tighten it with every passing second. Carolina jumped Pure from the behind and kicked him on the side of his head. With a painful grunt he loosened his grip on Wash and held his hand to the side of his helmet. _How is it that they both posses such immense physical strength? It is enough to even cause me some pain through my armor_. Pure straightened himself out and watched the female freelancer help Wash down. Carolina again felt a tingle in the back of her head, but this time it was accompanied by a barely audible moan. _What was that?_ She wondered staring back to Pure.

* * *

Wash took in a few deep breaths and patted Carolina in gratitude. "Okay, I'm good."

Pure studied his oxygen levels and started to make his way for the two. "I am afraid this must come to an end now."

"Sure, and it will be so in our favor!" Carolina shouted swinging an upper cut only for Pure to dodge it. He swung a mean left hook.

 _Watch your left!_ A familiar voice spoke inside of Carolina's head. She just barely managed to dodge it and kneed him in the stomach. _That voice, Is that you Church?_ She asked of the extremely familiar voice. _Not exactly_ , the voice replied explaining that it was Epsilon, the new Epsilon. She was both glad to hear the familiar voice but confused to see this transpire. _How?_ She asked of the fragment.

 _No time for that right now, focus on the fight!_ Epsilon warned her of another incoming attack. She was suddenly hit by an incoming volley of punches straight to the chest. Pure head butted her and knocked her away. Wash came in swinging a tight fist and hit Pure in the jaw. The big man however recouped quickly and kicked Wash in the ribs.

 _I told you to focus on the fight_ , the fragment said in her head. Carolina shook her head clean and mumbled. "I don't want to hear it."

 _Jeez, someone is being a spoil sport_ , Epsilon replied to her sour reply. However from his understandings, this was definitely Carolina as Church's recordings described her to be. Carolina bit her bottom lip in decreasing patience. "Since you are able to talk now, can you make yourself useful and run my equipment?"

Sorry, no can do. I don't have that capability just yet. The best I can do is give you warnings, sorry but you are on your own on this one really.

* * *

"How useful," she replied even sourer now. She watched Wash quickly getting his ass handed to him by Pure who twisted Wash's arm and smashed his face into the metal surface. _Wash!_ She made her way for him and landed right beside the two. "You will pay for this!"

"No," Pure said as he blocked her punch and deflected it. "No I won't."

Pure kicked Carolina away and watched her fellow grey soldier come to her aid. He activated his jets and rushed for Pure. Landing strong, he swung his leg wide hoping to land a clean hit on Pure's leg. But Pure managed to stop the kick midway and held it tightly. As Wash tried to retrieve it, he saw Pure raise his free arm up in the air. He noticed several bursts of pressurized air escape the various arm armor that increased both the force and velocity in his attack.

CRACK!

Wash could hear his leg bone breaking clean off in the thigh. He grunted in pain only to last find Pure's wide swing chip away at his visor, cracking it and knock him out. Pure watched the grey soldier drift off into space slowly. Carolina attacked Pure in rage, but as she boosted her jets towards his way, she found that she was quickly stopped by him.

Pure knocked Carolina on the ground and punched one of her ribs. She could hear it crack.

"Your spirits broken," Pure said as he punched a few more for good measure and after lifting her up to his level, he kicked her hard in the stomach. "Your minds in pieces."

Pure turned around to collect as much force as he could. "And your defeat…"

He swung around punching Carolina away, sending both her body and consciousness into the dark void. Pure stood still watching the two bodies drift away as his armor glistened brightly in the sun. "…is my victory."

He turned around to leave. Pure walked over to his gun and released it from the crevasse he left it in. Flying back down to the colony, he made his way to rendezvous with his allies.

* * *

A silhouette figure appeared besides Carolina. The figure was blue and was in the shape of the Spartan Mark VI armor. He looked at both his allies with indescribable worry. "Shit…, you two really did a number on yourselves."

He activated a distress beacon on both Carolina's and Wash's armor. He could now only hope for the best that their allies would get it. He looked up towards the direction of the lifeboats in hopes that they would get the signals. _I'm counting on you guys_.


	17. End of the Line

**Chapter 16: End of the Line**

Everyone looked at Delta who was busy hacking a ventilation lockdown. Simmons looked all around in worry as they all stood around the hatch to cover up their activities. "Can't you go any faster Delta?"

"I'm doing my best," the green fragment replied just as he bypassed another security hole in the programming. _So much inefficient code, and such a poor setup for the digital security_ , Delta pondered as he passed another. Although one thing he had to give them credit for was their tenacity for having the patience to setup so many walls to bypass. He decoded the final wall and the panel beside the vent blinked green.

"We are in," Delta told the others as the hatch opened. Locus waited for the others to get inside and then entered himself. _Looks like they are ahead of the curve on the lockdown, hopefully getting into the docks won't be too much trouble_. Everyone continued in the directions Locus gave and came across another locked door. Grif let out an irritated moan saying. "These guys sure do love their locked doors now don't they?"

"If you think that's bad, you should check out the guy in charge of this station. He is a total nut job," Tucker replied squirming around uncomfortably in his spot. _Seriously, fuck these tight spaces. But oh well, this vent is a better upgrade than that stinking old chair anyways_. The door opened for them to proceed with Caboose rejoicing. "Good job Delta, when we get out of here, I shall feed you several small crackers! That way you can grow as big as Church."

"Now that I would like to see," Tucker replied intrigued at the picture of Caboose trying to feed Delta a cracker on repeated failed attempts. Grif smirked under his helmet. "Save a seat for me to then."

"It will be a friends' night out!" Sis shouted in excitement imagining the disco ball getup in their bases, filled with rave parties, heavy drinking and some good old _flexing_ exercises. Grif could be heard groaning in fatigue entertaining both Sarge and Simmons. He shook his head at Sis immediately saying. "If you do that, I swear that I will drive us up to a cliff and as we watch the sunset, I will quietly put you out of my misery."

"I didn't know you cared that much," Simmons said nearly breaking out into a laughter. Grif looked back and held up a middle finger. Locus crawled his way forward just as they all began moving. Doc looked to his left and saw several ships, but there were also several people, some of whom had guns on them. "Check it out guys, ships and guns. The two of our most favorite things."

"I thought our favorite things were food and guns?" asked Donut.

"Yeah, but that's just you guys, I'm talking about us as a group."

"Guns do sound nice," said Sarge and Grif followed up by saying. "So do ships, it means I can take one for myself and get as far away as possible from you fuckers."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Simmons replied knowing that Lopez would just stop him on Sarge's orders. Grif knew the same as he let his head fall to the surface. _Why am I not allowed to end my misery? That's right, because the senile old man said so_. Lopez studied the various sectors of the dock and pointed at a less populated area. "[Hey guys, check it out. We can take that ship and get out of here for good.]"

"Lopez, as much as I enjoy torturing Grif, now is not the time for that," Sarge replied causing Lopez to nearly bang his fist in anger. He held himself back with only so little restraint thanks to his rational side winning over the irrational. _I hope you all die in a fiery pit of hell_ , he pondered as Donut pointed to the same area as Lopez did. "Hey guys, check it out, we can take one of the ships from there and get out of here for good."

"Great find Donut!" Sarge noted as everyone else studied the area.

"[SERIOUSLY?! I POINTED AT THE SAME FUCKING AREA!]"

Everyone looked at Lopez expecting him to shut up. Grif held up a finger in front of his mouthpiece. "Shh! Quiet Lopez, you will give away our position."

"[EAT A DICK!]"

"What's gotten into him all of a sudden?" Tucker asked, all the fragments knew, they knew it all too well. But they decided to take amusement in the Spanish robot's suffering, for they would not be the only ones to suffer at the hands of their idiot hosts. Donut tapped Lopez's feet as if to console him. "He gets like that sometimes. I think it's his Latin fiery temper."

Locus stopped everyone from opening the vent to sneak out just as he saw the lights turn from white to red. "They are onto us. We need to keep on moving."

"But how will we escape the station if we don't use this dock?" asked Doc only moments later for O'Malley to take over. "May I suggest we blow our way out of here in the crimson shower of our enemy's blood? Mwhahahah!"

"I will get the keys required to operate the launch sequence, you will all go to Sector-D's docks. Once we have the keys, we can use that dock completely free of any resistance. It will be an easy escape."

"Locus, when you work with us, you will find that nothing is easy," Grif conceded remembering all the times Sarge made the easiest of tasks difficult. _But then again, that could have been because it was just me doing those tasks_. The crew then heard something spraying into the vents. "What is that?"

* * *

"Get out now!" Locus ordered as everyone escaped the vents in a hurry. "They decided to fill the vents with some harmful gas."

"See, what did I just say about shit being easy?" Grif asked in return proving his point. Sis seemed to be having a grand old time however. She felt like she was a spy in a James Bond film going on a secret mission. "Woo hoo! What's next guys?"

"Next," Locus pondered as he studied the area others pointed out before. "Next is hijacking a ship."

"Uh, how do we do that with all the soldiers around?" Doc inquired seeing all the civilians to have gone now. They were evacuated from the area and only soldiers remained scanning the area. Grif dropped his rifle on the ground and took out his Grif-shot. He reloaded it and looked at the others. "Time to blow some shit up."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," said O'Malley as he prepared the rocket launcher. Tucker chuckled as he said. "Yeah, fuck the stealth approach. Let's go kick and stab things. And I don't mean stabbing them with our willies."

"I think we get the picture pretty clearly," Donut replied cringing at the image. Lopez reloaded his weapon and activated all of his battle features. Caboose held Freckles tightly in his hands who confirmed their status. "Ready."

Simmons reloaded his pistols and assault rifle. He cracked his neck easing it off any nervous tension built up and looked to Eta. The fragment was already busy coercing with Iota. The two were ready for combat. _Alright, just like before Eta, just like before_. Sarge reloaded his shotgun and looked all around. He faced forward to see the sudden growing number of enemy soldiers. "Well boys, looks like today is a good day to kick some ass!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself sir," Simmons replied.

Locus activated his sword and ran head first into the bunch with his cloak on. Eta and Iota got to work disabling enemy weapons and giving the reds and blues an easier time. Lopez and Freckles were picking off targets left and right. Sis was having the time of her life shooting her gun randomly in the air. "Gun party for everyone!"

The craziness ensued. Sigma continued to offer creative ways to flank the enemy. Theta and Delta worked together to bring up a high resolution real time map of the area. Gamma would occasionally mimic soldier voices to throw the enemy off and give the crew a momentary advantage. Omega did his thing with O'Malley who were taking out several in bunches.

Simmons aimed and fired at an enemy head. The shot was successful sending a wave of euphoria in his mind. "Suck it black! By the way, that was not a racist thing!"

The crew managed to hold their own. They even were able to eliminate a good seventy percent of the enemy forces. The fragments saw that their efficiency was at an all time high, even Locus was somewhat impressed by their teamwork and efforts. But this was quickly coming to an end as the enemy numbers again began to grow. Grif started running away noting. "Do they breed these guys out like rabbits or something?"

"How about cutting us some slack assholes?!" Tucker demanded only to have more gunfire come his way. Simmons shook his head. "Yeah Tucker, call the people you don't want killing you assholes. That will definitely make them feel friendlier towards you."

"Hey man, I never said I thought that plan through all the way."

"As usual," Simmons noted coming out of his cover and firing several rounds. He hid back to reload his weapons and could see Locus running towards them. Locus jumped over the make shift barricade the crew had created. "We need to go."

"Go where? We need a ship. The ship is here in this area!" Simmons reminded. Locus pointed to a huge door that connected Sector-C to Sector-D. "I managed to swipe the keys for the launch sequence. We will take a ship from Sector-D. If we stay here, we will be overrun."

"Fuck! Okay, let's do this!" Tucker exclaimed thinking about how they just can't seem to catch a break. Locus looked all around and held up three fingers. "On my mark, we run!"

He looked all around for an opening. _There!_ Locus motioned for everyone to leg it. "Move! Move! Move!"

* * *

Everyone ran past the huge doors. Locus made sure to close the door behind them and had Delta apply an additional layer of security to the pass code. _Hopefully that will hold them off at least for a short while_ , Locus pondered as he ran through the empty hallways with the others. Every door they came across, he did the same. All of a sudden the lights gave out! Everyone froze and began panicking.

"Calm down!" Locus shouted to keep everyone in line. "It looks like they are already close to breaching the locks."

"By shutting off the lights? What a brilliant plan that is," Tucker sarcastically noted turning on his flashlight. The others did the same and with Locus' guidance they began running through the dark. The lights quickly came back on. The emergency red was no longer active. The normal white lights were back on, but Locus knew that they hadn't lifted the emergency. _They are up to something else_ , he pondered as they ran for a big hallway that connected the two sectors together.

They all began crossing the door but just as Locus was about to cross over, he found the door quickly shutting. To avoid being ripped in half, he jumped backwards to the other side. Tucker turned around and slammed his fist against the shut door. "Shit, Locus you still there?"

"I'm, but you will have to go on your own."

"We can't leave you here, and what about the keys?"

"Check your pockets, you will find both of them in there. I knew you may not trust me with them, hence I slipped them in there discreetly."

 _Well that worked out in our favor_ , thought everyone but Locus. He was busy trying to find a way over to the other side. He didn't see any visible vents, nor did he see any man sized floor compartments he could try and crawl through. "Go on ahead. I will escape on my own."

"But- ", Tucker retaliated against the decision. He didn't like leaving Locus alone even after all he had done. Locus walked to the side to start removing a few wall covers in an effort to find an escape. He heard several other doors opening from the way they had just come. Accompanying those door noises were the noises of several footsteps. "Go now! I did you all wrong, but I have no intentions of betraying you again."

Tucker kicked the door in frustration as Sarge placed a hand on his shoulder. "We need to go Tucker. This is what the man wants."

"Fuck!"

* * *

Locus stopped as he saw the door behind him open. Several enemy soldiers surrounded him with their weapons trained on him. Locus thought to give them a chance. "Stand down and leave!"

"That will not be happening," Locus heard a familiar voice as he turned to look past all the enemy soldiers. Behind them were Equal, Truth, Justice and Pure. Locus felt his heart drop with worry. This would not end well, and both of them knew it. "You no longer command these men Locus."

"Equal," Locus called out in a tone of respect. Equal balled his hands into fists, he could feel a surge of anger but he fought it back. "You have some explaining to do."


	18. Self-Sacrifice

**Chapter 17: Self-sacrifice**

Tucker smashed his fist against the door even after Sarge tried to stop him. He turned to look at Caboose and asked for Delta to come out. "How may I be of…assistance?"

"I want you to open this door right now," Tucker demanded as the fragment entered the keypad lock. Delta tried to enter through several different pathways, but each attempt ended in failure. _This is strange, just moments ago their security seemed poor. But now the quality has exceeded beyond even what I am presently capable of_. Delta exited the lock after a few more tries all ending in defeat. "I'm sorry Captain Tucker but I can't open the door."

"What do you mean? Aren't you supposed to be smart or something?!" Tucker asked in an outrage. Caboose created distance between Delta and Tucker coming to his fragment's defense. "Hey! Tucker, that was not very nice. Delta tried his best."

Tucker simply kicked the door in anger and crossed his arms. _This is some serious bullshit!_ He thought as the others turned to look behind them. Simmons pointed to another door stating. "That wasn't there before."

"So, who wants to wager that we won't be able to hack the other doors as well now?" Grif asked looking all around. Doc smirked under his helmet saying. "I will take that action. I got fifty bucks on not being able to open it."

Everyone looked at Delta who tried to do his thing with the other lock. He failed. Even Delta was shocked to see this happen. He believed he had been created as the most logical and smartest AI fragment, thus not much should be able to stand in his way. Yet here stood what once was a flimsy lock, easily foiling his every attempt to bypass the security.

"So…you guys wouldn't happen to know of any other way out now would you?" Sis asked tapping her feet in impatience. Doc pointed to a vent up above. "Check it out. We could use that to go to Sector-D."

Sarge was impressed by Doc's calm tone in this situation. "Great find Doc, now let's get to work on opening the vent."

"Ah great, more work," Grif moaned in a tired tone. Sarge pointed his shotgun at him. "Can it Numb-nuts or I will shoot you with my shotgun."

"Nothing new there," said Grif.

* * *

The two war friends stared at one another in silence. Locus could see the pain behind Equal's eyes to have to come to this confrontation. _You are not the only one hurting, I didn't want to do this either_. Locus raised his weapon at the group, but unexpectedly they remained still. _Are they not intimidated or feeling threatened?_ Locus pondered with Equal walking out of the group.

"Locus, you have some serious explaining to do," said Equal studying Locus' body language. There was no hesitation in his movements. This indicated to Equal that Locus deeply believed in his actions. "So enlighten me locus, why this betrayal?"

"I…," Locus stopped to carefully consider his words. _No, I have to be honest. Playing politics will bring nothing but more sorrow to our friendship now_. "I don't believe in what you are doing. The way you aim to achieve your goals are wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Yes, you want to incite war with the UNSC in an effort to bring justice for all those who were wronged. Bringing justice is one thing, but doing it through the means of war is another."

"So you want us to use the language of diplomacy?" Equal asked amused at the suggestion. "What will that change in the long run? People are bound to forget things that happen quietly. History can repeat itself. But do something so massive to leave a permanent mark, and they will remember."

"Equal, War will only create more hate than what you have. Do you really believe that there will be no consequences for your actions? Do you really think you can cure hate with more hate?" Locus asked putting forth an interesting question. "No it won't. If you fight, then you will be the harbinger of another war, one in which I fear your people won't fair well."

"Don't speak of us as if we are weak!" Equal replied with his tone clearly affected by Locus' words. Locus stopped a moment to let Equal calm down. He breathed in deeply and continued. "But you should know best from experience. Remember the hate that fueled our fight against the aliens? Remember the after effects of that hate? Do you really want to start the cycle all over again?"

"Unfortunately, that hatred was born the moment the UNSC wronged us. And it only deepened when you and Captain Tucker decided it be a fair idea to kill our men in your escape. Do you think the people will forgive and forget that so easily? I think not," Equal replied walking back to his group of allies. He felt a deep sense of heaviness in his heart. He didn't want to do it, but he had to in order to be fair and just to everyone. "It pains me to say this Locus. I trusted you the most out of everyone. We were like brothers during and after the Great War. And now, I have to order for your execution. You must die for betraying us."

* * *

All the other enemy soldiers surrounded Locus with their guns pointed at his head. Locus dropped his head in disappointment. _I'm sorry it had to come to this as well friend_. He suddenly ran his camouflage unit just as the soldiers opened fire. Within a matter of seconds he was gone and already massacring the soldiers.

He was killing them left and right with all of his weapons at disposal. Striking down the last, Locus ran for Equal. _I will end everything here right now. With you gone…with you gone they will no longer be as coordinated. There will be an opportunity for others to strike down this station then and all that it stands for_. Locus jumped above everyone else and activated his alien sword. He swung downwards, but before he could make contact, he was kicked away!

Locus picked himself as his right side ached. He held it tightly to ease the pain and saw that Pure stood in his way. Pure looked down at his rail gun and activated the energy sword attachment at the bottom. "I shall oblige you by being your opponent Locus."

Locus felt his hands shake a little. _Am I afraid of him? No I don't have the luxury to be. I must fight!_ Locus ran for Pure and both of them raised their swords in the air. The swords clashed and they stared at one another intensely, each trying to stare down the other. Locus saw that his strength was failing him against Pure's brutish power. He jumped to the left just barely escaping a gory fate. Locus jumped head first knocking Pure down to the ground.

The rest watched from one side of the room giving the two plenty of fighting ground. Equal averted his gaze however. He could not bear the prospect of seeing his allies fight amongst themselves. As much as he wanted revenge for all those deaths Locus caused, he was still too afraid to see Locus be struck down.

Pure got up and kicked Locus away causing him to roll down to the ground. Locus struggled to get himself up, but his body felt broken. _Just from one hit? He is a monster_ , Locus pondered barely standing up. Pure walked closer with his sword up high and swung it wide. Locus was just grazed, but he avoided a fatal blow. He swung his alien sword, but every hit Locus thought he could make contact with was constantly missing.

Pure was using his additional jets for additional flexibility in dodging the attacks. He had the upper hand here. Pure dodged another swing and punched Locus hard in the jaw. Locus went flying to the ground a few meters away from his opponent. The sword deactivated as it was flung off far away from Locus. He looked around for it. _There is no chance I am going to be able to get to it without distracting Pure_.

Pure walked closer and lifted Locus up by his neck. He tightened his grip nearly to the point that Locus was hardly able to breathe. "Just so you know Locus, you killed ten of my friends today."

Locus struggled against Pure's grip, hitting his arm with his losing strength. Pure eventually flung Locus against a wall. Everyone in the room could hear a crack echo from Locus' body. Pain was evident from the hindered movements in Locus's back. Equal looked at his ally thinking, _what a merciless man you can be Pure_. The big man walked towards Locus and activated his sword attachment. "For them Locus, pay with your life!"

With a swift swing, Pure impaled Locus' abdomen causing him to grunt in excruciating pain. Every fiber of his body ached with all of his pain receptors feeling the hot burning sensation of the energy sword. He tried to get it out, but Pure would not allow it for he firmly held it down. _Is this really it?_ Locus pondered as the weakness spread from the wound to the rest of his body. _Is this really the end?_

"Know that your death is for the benefit of our people," said Pure as he leaned in closer. Locus grew weary and his head began to fall back. But before he went completely limb, he managed to activate a trigger. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Pure looked all around the room and saw no bombs present. _What was that trigger for then?_ He wondered. Locus' body went completely limp. He was quickly losing the sensation in there. He breathed heavily, like a man on his death bed taking his last few breaths. _So, this is the end_.

* * *

Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep.

Truth pointed to Pure's chest shouting. "Pure, what is that?!"

The big man looked down with a shocked gasp. He struggled against a stuck object on his chest. It was a sticky bomb.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Pure almost had it, and he used his other hand as well to apply more force. Locus felt his vision go blurry from his sustained injury. _Did I do something good in the end?_

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Locus slowly with a struggle turned to look in Equal's direction. The person that ordered his execution, and yet he still considered him a friend. _Maybe now I understand why Tucker had so much faith in me at the very end. Friendship…_

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Equal was shocked to see things play out this way. Justice was already in front of Equal ready to protect him from the explosion. He looked down at Locus who now lay still. His breathing had lessened. It was to the point where he could hardly notice Locus' chest moving. Locus' vision began to go dark, and his final parting thought was one in which he could take comfort in. _I did do some good. I did make something right at the very end. Tucker and the rest of the sim troopers…I just hope you can carry on my actions. I just want to see Equal liberated from this hate. I just want peace_.

Pure removed the bomb from his chest. Locus' vision went dark. The bomb exploded! Justice activated her shield to protect them all from the force of the explosion. Equal did his best to push past her, but he was held back by Truth. He called out for Pure, but they could hear nothing but the explosion.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!" asked Grif as he finished helping Sarge up into the vent. Simmons looked towards the locked door and shrugged his shoulders. He turned his attention to the ceiling however. "What is that beeping noise?"

Sarge strained his hearing and quickly decided to dismiss the idea. "Who cares, we need to skedaddle on out of here quickly."

"Right, double-O Donut never fails his mission. Let's go everyone!" Donut replied in a positive and encouraging tone. Grif motioned for Sis to get into the vent next. Just as she took a step towards Grif, they all heard a few explosions taking place. Outside the colony, the devices Locus had planted on the colony's surface exploded creating a tear between Sector-C and Sector-D. The whole area the crew occupied suddenly depressurized. Simmons held down onto the floor handles beneath his feet noting. "So did you guys hear that one?!"

Donut and Sis went flying out into space. Grif looked behind him trying to reach out for Sis, but he was too late. Thanks to Gamma, he had activated his gravity boots almost instantly. Sarge looked to the two crew members evacuated to space. They were floating still by Sector-D. _Uh nuts, what do we do now?!_ Sarge pondered as he turned to notice Grif losing his traction on the surface.

"Uh Simmons, help," Grif called out slowly being dragged towards space. Simmons reached out with his free hand. "Grab hold!"

Suddenly Grif lost all friction that caused him to fling backwards. By some luck he managed to grab hold of Simmons' arm. The sudden jolt was not nice to the maroon soldier. He struggled to keep a tight grip on the handle. Though the floor structure the handle was attached to was constantly shaking. _Please don't do this to us now_ , Simmons thought as he saw a screw coming loose and flying away. The floor cover suddenly came loose causing Simmons' to suddenly arch backwards. The only thing that kept him planted to the floor was his gravity boots and even those seemed to be losing their effect against the deadly forces of space. "Uh Grif, hang on."

"To what?!"

Just as quickly Grif uttered his words, the two were thrown away quickly heading for space. Simmons managed to grab hold of some damaged debris still attached to Sector-C. Grif suddenly lost his grip on Simmons and flew out towards Sector-C. "Simmmmooooohhhnnnnsss!"

"Grif, look out!" Simmons shouted over the radio as the orange soldier turned around to find Sector-D on fast approach. "Oh…fuck me."

With a loud and forceful crash, Grif's body remained still. Sarge looked at his only man still struggling to hold on and called out to him. "Simmons, hold on! Use your jets to get yourself back in here!"

"I can't sir, the pressure is too much!" Simmons shouted just as he lost his grip. He went flying down towards Sector-D only to meet the same fate as Grif, Donut and Sis. Sarge was left distraught. This was supposed to be a rescue mission for Tucker, and yet here they were again completely separated from one another. Doc gently brushed Sarge's shoulder with his foot. "We need to go Sarge, there is nothing we can do for them from here right now. We should head back into Sector-C. The vents are already closing off section by section. We need to hurry."

"Yeah, just have faith that they will be alive," Tucker added filled with worry. Sarge reluctantly followed the others deeper into the vents and to wherever they may lead the remaining group.

Gamma appeared besides Grif trying to get a proper readout on his health. It wasn't looking good. And according to the other fragments, it didn't look good for Simmons or Donut either. Gamma tagged Sis and activated a distress beacon alongside the other fragments in the hopes that Captain Muffins manages to retrieve them somehow. Captain Muffins now seemed to be their only hope of getting out of this alive. It was just a matter of time. But even that was limited in supply with their oxygen modules slowly running out of air.

* * *

Everyone in Equal's group looked towards the door alongside him. His heart grew weary from worry and the ache it has suffered today. "What was that?"

"It sounded like an explosion," Truth advised as he went to a nearby panel for surveillance systems. Justice tapped on Equal's shoulder and motioned toward the explosion Locus and Pure were involved in. "The smoke is clearing."

Equal's mouth dropped open at the sight. The floor was covered in an exuberant amount of blood, torn limbs and pieces from within the human body that were no longer identifiable. Equal walked over to Locus' corpse that was mostly intact, though his armor seemed to have suffered some major burn damage. He bent down to retrieve the sword and activated it. The sword now obeyed his command.

Equal stared at the sword and gritted his teeth. His vision focused from the sword to Locus. _Why?!_ He wondered in a sudden surge of anger. He fell to his knees as his legs malfunctioned from the sudden chemical imbalance. "Why would you do this Locus?!"

Justice rushed over to his side and held him by his back. "Equal, please calm down."

"No! I won't calm down. I can't calm down, not when I had to be the one to order my friend's execution. And in the process, I lost two of some of the closest people to me in my life. Why would he do this to begin with?!" Equal questioned, and in a fit of rage he punched the floor causing a dent. "I thought we had a mutual understanding established. Why would you do this then Locus? Why?!"

Truth warily approached his colleagues with even worse news. Both of them stared up at him waiting to spit it out. He lowered his head feeling the weight of being the bearer of such news. "I'm sorry Equal, but it seems that Sector-D was blown clean off from the rest of the station. All the people still on there are now lost."

"Hold on, we can still mount a rescue mission!" Justice argued standing up to Truth's level and going toe to toe with him. He shook his head at her. "That isn't possible. The amount of damage they have done to us already will take up most of our resources. If we dedicate people, time and other resources to rescuing those on a lost sector now, then we put the ones on the station at a higher risk of dying. It may sound cruel to abandon them, no it is cruel. But we don't have much of a choice."

"FUCK!" Equal shouted suddenly stabbing the sword through the floor. His eyes were bloodshot with rage. He wanted to pick up Locus' corpse and shred it apart with his bare hands. _Is this the type of peace you sought Locus?! You not only killed our soldiers, but also the innocent! You were nothing but a walking contradiction_.

Everyone was quiet. They all understood that a moment of silence was needed. Truth cleared his throat to break the silence soon after. "We will…we will officially declare everyone trapped on Sector-D dead after we have handled basic cleanup."

Equal looked at Locus' helmet and let out a tired, sad and a broken laugh as he sat down in the pool of blood. "Just what is trust? If I could not trust the person I valued the most in my life, then what worth is there in trust? Does that not mean that I'm- that we are all truly alone in the very end? There is no value at all…"

* * *

Justice looked at Equal with sympathetic, compassionate and most of all understanding eyes. Truth felt his head become heavier with these thoughts. He left to start handling cleanup, and he left Equal in Justice's care, she always knew how best to deal with him. Justice agreed to the plan as she watched Truth leave. _We are tired, broken and I would argue even pathetic. Our enemy managed to get the best of us, and they managed to scar us all_.

She placed a comforting hand on Equal's shoulder and bent down beside him. She took his hand in hers and held it in silence. Equal didn't know what to do anymore. All the sacrifices he had made to this point, it all seemed to be unravelling right before his eyes. _What have I been fighting for all this time if you chose to stand up against it so strongly Locus?_

"Justice," Equal whispered in a dry and weary tone. "Are we all really alone?"

She shook her head at him. "No, you are not alone. I'm not alone, and neither is Truth. Looks at us, we are all a bunch of broken people who understand each other's pain. Because we have all experienced the way UNSC played with our trust and belief in them, we are able to truly understand one another mutually. On this station, none of us are really alone."

"I suppose you are right," Equal admitted thinking about her words in-depth. He turned to look at the remains of Pure and closed his eyes as a sign of respect. _You fought well friend, your opponents were formidable and you always managed to overcome them. Even this, I would count it as a victory, because you managed to protect us all_. "Pure had a family, did he not?"

Justice bit her bottom lip thinking about what will become of them. "Yes, they will no doubt be devastated by this."

"Especially his daughter," Equal stated, he shook his head still unable to truly grasp these stirring emotions inside of his mind. "He was so excited for his daughter's fifth birthday next week. He told me that they had plans to go out to all of her favorite places, make it the best damn birthday they could for her."

Justice tightened her grip on his hand. She rubbed Equal's back holding her own tears back. Equal could no longer fight it though. He had to let this pain out somehow. She continued to rub his back as he silently cried. "I'm sure it would have been great…maybe we should all do something together for them. But someone will need to be sent down to their residence to deliver this news."

"Then let me do it," Equal demanded, he could not bring himself to go through with sending someone else to deliver this news while he sat safely behind a desk. "Let me be the one to tell them."

"Are you sure?" Justice inquired greatly concerned at this course of action. Equal nodded his head veraciously. "They deserve to know the truth from someone close to him."

Justice helped Equal stand up as he had now calmed down. He looked at the spot Pure's remains were scattered and begged for forgiveness. _Forgive me for this Pure, forgive me_. He turned to Locus' corpse and now could not feel anything else but heartache. He turned to walk around and leave the room slowly with the support of the wall and Justice. _This is where our paths must diverge. I suppose this is goodbye Locus, goodbye_.


	19. Plans in Motion

**Chapter 18: Plans in Motion**

As the crew floated lifelessly in space, the fragments did their best at keeping their declining condition stable. Gamma looked at Iota and Eta who both shook their head in disappointment. Their failures continued to pile on top of one another ever since this whole operation began. Where they gained a little ground, but lost a lot in exchange. Gamma turned to the sudden illumination of light their way.

 _Good, they are finally here_ , he thought increasing the beacon's strength. The crew onboard the lifeboat noticed the increasing strength and pinpointed the location. This revealed three more beacons. Captain Muffins looked out into the direction of their find while twirling his moustache. _Hmm…That did not go so well then_. He ordered his helmsmen to take the ship in slowly towards the pinpointed location.

"It's not looking good sir. According to the info we are getting here, they are at the risk of flat lining," said one of the lifeboat information officer.

"Then we best retrieve them soon ja." Muffins stated crossing his arms. They came upon the group. Everyone activated their oxygen supply upon being instructed to do so. One of the crew mates opened the door and held tightly onto the handles to the sides of the door. He fought hard against the forces that wished to evacuate him out into space. As soon as the whole life boat depressurised, he was given the green light to retrieve them.

Muffins activated his built-in radio and contacted the ship carrying the freelancers. "What is their status?"

"They will need some serious medical work help to patch up the beating they took sir."

"So simply put, it's all bad ja?"

"Um I guess?" the soldier replied shrugging his shoulders. Muffins nodded his head instructing them to intersect at a certain point on their map with their ship. "We shall regroup for now."

"Uh oh, they aren't looking too hot either," the soldier retrieving them noted from their limp body. From just touching them he could tell that their bones were broken in certain places. There was some heavy damage done to them from their crash course towards Sector-D. One of the soldiers took this moment to try and lighten up the mood. "I didn't know you were into that type of kink Dave."

"Quiet!" Muffins declared earning silence all around. "We must retrieve them as quickly as possible and make our escape. This is no time for jokes. Also Dave, I respect your kinks but we are on duty man. Come see me in my quarters after hours, I have something _fascinating_ to show you."

"It's a trap!" one of the crew members suddenly shouted sticking out their head. Muffins threw an ammo cartridge at the soldier. "No one asked for your opinion Buttmunch."

Dave entered with Simmons and looked back. "Okay, that's the last of them."

"Good, now let's make for the meet up point. Drive away driver man, cho! cho!"

* * *

They slowly flew under the radar, avoiding all detection by the space colony and finally made it to the meet up point. Over the ship wide communication, the other lifeboat communicated the following. "Sir, we don't have many supplies on board this ship."

"Neither do we," another soldier added from behind Muffins. He rubbed his chin and looked at the planet in front of them. "Can we make it to the nearest UNSC controlled space station?"

"Counting for the supplies needed to keep everyone from Blood Gulch stabilized, no."

"Then we make for the planet at once!" Muffins stated with everyone looking at it. One soldier raised his hand and asked. "You want us to land on that hunk of rock sir?"

"Ja, I do! Any problems?"

"Well, isn't that the place that hates UNSC presence in general?"

"Ja! It is a brilliant plan then no?"

"No."

"Private, come here for a moment," Muffins asked leading the young man to the exit door. He gave the signal for oxygen and suddenly opened the door. "You were saying?"

"I think it's a brilliant idea sir!"

"You have a bright future ahead of yourself on my crew," Muffins replied sitting the shaken Private back down. "Now make for the planet!"

"Yes sir," the pilots replied as they powered up the engines and began to fly far away from the space colony. Muffins looked back towards the destruction they had all caused and gave a salute to anyone who was still stuck on the station. _May luck see it fit to guide you all to safety my Blood Gulch homies_.

* * *

Equal looked out of his office and felt the change of scenery to be unwelcomed. He missed the freeway that ran by their building in Sector-D. Now situated in Sector-C, he had taken over one of his other offices. Like nearly everything else, there was a backup of everything here. Equal's office was located in all of the sectors. Each was designed the same and contained the same updated data. He saw the people walking about as if nothing had ever happened. _But neither this sector, nor any other was affected by what happened in Sector-D, so it only makes sense I suppose_.

Equal heard the door open behind him and he saw in the window's reflection that it was Justice. She situated herself in front of his desk and he slowly turned to stare at her. "How can I help you Justice?"

"Everyone in our army is curious to know what will be done with Captain Tucker and his allies?"

"Captain Tucker," Equal mused thinking of the Blood Gulch crew and how the low level soldiers were able to cause such immense damage. "If he is found alongside anyone that helps him or his allies, kill them."

"Does that apply to Captain Tucker as well?"

"Yes, there is no need for mercy towards him. It's too late for that," Equal said as his tone got a little harsher with every word uttered. He walked past Justice and excused himself. "Feel free to show yourself out."

"Where are you going?" she asked in concern of his well being. He stopped by the opening door and looked down at the floor. "I need to pay someone a very important visit in the residential areas."

 _Someone you say_ , Justice pondered shaking her head. She knew who he was going to, and she could only hope that they took the news well. Equal took the elevator down to the garage level and took a free vehicle. He had a soldier escort him through the various Sectors of the colony until they finally reached the residential sector.

* * *

"Pull up by that house," Equal pointed out to the soldier who confirmed his directions. Gently bringing the jeep to a stop, Equal departed with all that he needed. "I need you to wait here."

"Yes sir."

Equal stared at the door of the house and let out a deep built-up breath. _It's now or never, I suppose_. He walked up to the door and pressed the door bell. From behind the door he could hear a young girl's voice and footsteps rushing towards him. Following the girl were the footsteps of an adult. The door swung open as the girl cheerfully greeted their guest. "Welcome home da-"

The girl saw that it was not her father. In fact it was someone they never expected would visit their home. The mother quickly rushed up to her daughter's side and bowed her head in respect. "Equal, sir, this is quite a surprise visit."

He could not say anything. Seeing the young girl's ecstatic face quickly turn to somewhat disappointment saddened Equal even more. _Forgive me, please_. Equal asked if he could come in. The two made way for him and led him to the living room. As Equal sat down, he was offered tea or coffee, both of which he turned down. "I'm not here for long. It is a matter I was hoping to discuss with you in private miss."

The wife took one look at Equal and knew something was wrong. She could see his quivering lips. The daughter looked back and forth between the adults and held onto her mother's apron tightly. "Mommy, what's going on?"

"Honey, can you please go to your room? Take Mr. Bubbles with you, I'm sure he would love to spend some time there," the mother suggested holding up her daughter's favorite soft toy. She happily hugged him and rushed off to her own room. The wife sat opposite to Equal and held her hands together. From the silence she could tell it was something very bad. "This doesn't have anything to do with my husband, does it?"

Equal's head fell low telling her all that she needed to know. Her once strong and composed face began to break down. She shook her head as the heaviness of the moment began to settle in. "No…"

A tear escaped her eyes and Equal offered a tissue from the nearby box. She wiped her eyes and thanked him. She did her best to harden her heart for the news. "Please, just give it to me straight."

"Pure," Equal began looking down at the ground. He had his head in his hands. "He…died fighting valiantly against our enemies. But in the end he was bested. Rest assured that there will be an official funeral precession for hi-"

"The one who killed him," the wife asked again beginning to break down into even more tears. "Is he dead?"

Equal looked at her speechless, the amount of hate in her eyes far exceeded what he felt when he saw Pure's remains. He nodded his head at her noting. "Yes, his killer died alongside him."

"Good," she uttered endlessly wiping her eyes of the tears that refused to stop. Equal sat back and cleared his throat. "There were…there were others involved as well. These other people managed to escape the station after causing us a lot of damage. You will hear an official announcement about this later today. But the reason I tell you this is to let you know that they will be hunted down once we have a clue of their whereabouts. We have our best people working on this case."

"Good," she again uttered feeling rage brew deep in her mind. "There should be no mercy for the animals that killed my husband! Show them no kindness! They must pay for what they took from us."

Equal silently nodded his head at her words. He couldn't say anything else, and he didn't want to say anything else. They both mutually agreed that Pure's killers needed to be killed. It was the only way for them to repent for their crime. He slowly stood up and took out a contact card. He gently placed it on the table and looked up at her with slight pity. "Should you need anything, contact me on my personal number. Remember, we will be here for you."

He turned around to leave, leaving the widow to make sense of her own sorrow and loss. He exited the house and took in a deep breath. He looked all around and wondered about hate. _Just how many of you are filled with hatred in your hearts? Locus, you tried to stop me from using hate as my fuel. But with you trying to stop us, you killed many. That only increased the hate. You achieved the opposite of what you intended, how could you stand to utter such nonsense as using diplomacy then?_

* * *

Equal sat in the jeep and instructed the soldier to take him back. He took out his tablet and contacted Truth over a secure channel. He heard the aloof voice of his soldier greet him from the other side. "Yello, what's up boss?"

"Truth, I have a mission for you."

"Okay, I'm listening."

"I need you to go to a planet we have speculated to contain another one of the swords and retrieve it. Losing Captain Tucker's sword was quite a shame, but if we can get another one then we may be able to launch our attack on the UNSC sooner than anticipated. Understand that this mission is of great importance, it will effectively decide how soon we can act to obtain our vengeance."

"So, no pressure then," Truth replied jokingly and followed up with a confirmation. "I understand the mission, I will head out immediately. Will all the info I need be transferred to my tablet?"

"Yes," Equal replied. "But the pilots of your ship will also have it, so rest assured that information will not be an issue."

"Understood."

"I look forward to a positive resolution," Equal said before cutting communications. He placed it in one of the compartments and watched the scenery. _We must prepare for a war will come soon, and with it so shall our vengeance_.

* * *

A vent kicked open in an empty hallway. Tucker exited first, followed by Caboose, then by Lopez, then by Doc and Sarge. They looked around and no one was in sight for several meters. _Good_ , thought Tucker as he explored the area and led the crew to an exit door. He opened it a crack to peek outside and found that the streets were far busier than the ones they had been in before. _Great, where did we exactly come out to?_

He turned back to the others and said. "Okay, so good news is that we are out. Bad news is that there is a shit ton of people outside so we may not be able to move around as much as we thought we would."

"Why not just keep our heads low?" Caboose asked and everyone looked at him shaking their heads. Tucker even went as far as to sarcastically say. "Yeah, you do that first Caboose. If it works, we will be sure to catch up on this then. That is if they don't find you and persecute you first."

"You are all just jealous of my idea," Caboose replied pushing past the others and walking in plain sight. _God rest his blue soul in peace_ , Sarge thought as he saw Caboose enter the crowd. A few minutes later, there was no screams of horror or cries for help. Everyone looked around at one another confused. Doc couldn't believe this. "C- Could it have worked?"

"I don't know, Caboose's plan working…something sounds sketchy here," Tucker replied skeptically. But he didn't know what else to do. "You know what? Fuck it! I'm going to try it."

Tucker walked out with his head low and no one screamed. Doc and Sarge were both impressed. They both agree to go out at the same time but maintain some distance from one another. It worked for them. The only one left was Lopez. Sarge looked at Lopez from afar and communicated over the radio. "Come on Lopez, just keep your head down and keep on walking in our direction!"

Lopez took one step outside and everyone's eyes were turned on him. "[Dafuq?!]"

A child pointed in the robot's way with a shaky voice. "Mommy, why is there a Spanish robot here?"

Everyone covered their mouths as they gasped loudly. Lopez felt his CPU overheating from the anger and shouted. "[FUCK YOU, YOU RACIST PRICKS!]"

Lopez ran through the crowd and into the back alley. The others made a break for it further down the alley and into the complex network. They all stopped to catch their breath as Tucker shook his head at Lopez. "Man, why did you have to screw that up? That was so easy Lopez!"

"[Up yours]," he replied holding up the middle finger towards Tucker. Sarge looked around and saw that there was no other life in plain sight. "So uh, what do we do now boys?"

"Decide on our next move I guess," Tucker replied going to the nearby steps and taking a seat. The others sat down all around and put their heads together. Doc however was at the brink of giving up already. "Look guys, I don't mean to be a downer but, what can we really do with just the five of us?"

"A lot," said Caboose. Tucker scoffed at the response asking. "Like what?"

"Come on, you can't give up like that!" Sarge replied pulling out his shotgun. "We made it through the worst. Surely we can make it through whatever else this Equal fella has to throw our way."

"Sarge, losing more than half of us is not counted as making it through the worst," Doc added with O'Malley taking over. "That is a matter of perspective. For example, seeing Grif excavated into space only to meet a brutal end counts as a win in my book."

"See, O'Malley knows what I'm talking about! Also we can't just do nothing hoping for things to get better," said Sarge itching to take action. They all agreed, but what could they really do? They all put their heads together but could not come to a much more comprehensive plan other than kick Equal's arse. Sarge let out a sight. _Why am I not surprised? Kick arse, for god's sakes that isn't even a military term! They should make it one now seeing as how often we use it_.

"Yeah, this is the best plan we have right now then," said Tucker knowing this plan was better than no plan. "Plus, I want to avoid another war."

* * *

They all agreed remembering back to Chorus. They all took a moment of silence for the soldiers that lost their lives on Chorus, and then stood up to decide on a direction to go in. Caboose looked at the others worriedly and asked. "But what about the others?"

"We can't do much about them right now Caboose," Sarge replied even though he hated that response. "They are on their own."

"Yeah, we will just have to have faith that they are still alive," Doc added. "And that we will all see one another again."

"Just gotta have faith," Tucker repeated as they started to walk away. But before they could take more than a few steps from their spots, they heard a door open in front of them. Outlined by the light inside the building was a man.

"Captain Tucker?" asked the man with a hoarse voice. Tucker looked at the others and said. "Um, yeah."

The man motioned for the crew to follow him. Tucker stopped Caboose from innocently going with him. "Hold on, who the hell are you?"

"My apologies for not introducing myself. All you need to know is that I'm a friend of Locus' and was tasked with helping you and your friends after his passing. We don't have much time Captain."

"Okay, but how do we know that you are telling the truth?" Tucker questioned stepping in front of everyone else. The man nodded his head and took out a dog tag. He held them out the door and waited for Tucker to reach over. Tucker studied the dog tags and looked up at the man covered in robes. "What is this?"

"A dog tag, they belonged to Locus from when he was in the military. I also have this audio recording from Locus," the man replied playing the recording. Upon hearing Locus' voice and how Locus vouched for the man, they all decided to follow him. Stepping inside the building, they all saw that it descended downward several steps.

"Kinda creepy in there," Caboose noted seeing how the light faded the further along the stairs went down. They all slowly started to follow the man with Sarge being the last. He looked outside one last and closed the door behind himself. He activated the light on his gun and followed the others.

Soon, they descended completely down the dark steps and were met by an equally dark tunnel. They all began walking deeper and deeper into it hoping for the best. _Trying times are sure to come_ , they all thought. _Here is hoping that we can cause some major damage to you Equal and bring down your resistance group_.

* * *

 **A/N: That is it, it is done! Now I can move on to the next and final season of this story.**

 **Thank you for sticking to the end with this one. I hope you look forward to the sequel in which more is explained as well as a resolution to this storyline.**

 **Thank you to all those that favorite, added this to their alert list and reviewed/commented on this story. I hope you were able to enjoy it so far and look forward to a much darker season 16. I hope you were able to find enjoyment out of this story and look forward to the next entry in this trilogy.**

 **Also just a heads up (this only applies until Season 16 has not been posted), there may be a considerable delay before anything is posted. I want to take the time to plan things out for that one rather than use the same writing structure as I did here. Which was basically go in and do some writing on the spot. If Season 16 is already posted and you are reading this, well then I guess wipe it from your memory… :P**

 **~ Monty Mason**


End file.
